Our reads in June 2018

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Our reads in June 2018

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1dustydigger
Modifié : Juin 17, 2018, 5:00 pm

Here we go again. Another month,another pile of books to read and share with the group.Happy reading!

2dustydigger
Modifié : Juin 27, 2018, 4:45 am

Dusty's TBR for June
SF/F
Piers Anthony - A Spell for Chameleon ✔
Becky Chambers - Long Way to a Small,Angry Planet✔
Kate Griffin - The Minority Council
Ann Leckie - Provenance ✔
Cherie Priest - Wings to the Kingdom ✔
Robert J Sawyer - Hominids ✔
Clifford D Simak - All Flesh is Grass ✔
from other genres
Sharon Bolton - Dead Woman Walking
Kathy Reichs - The Bone Collection
Carrie Vaughn - Discord's Apple ✔
Oscar Wilde - The Canterville Ghost ✔
J D Robb - Dark in Death ✔

3ThomasWatson
Mai 31, 2018, 4:43 pm

>2 dustydigger: I just read Simak's All Flesh is Grass earlier this year. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Not sure where I'm starting out in June. Just finished Adulthood Rites by Octavia Butler. Leaning toward Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey at the moment.

4johnnyapollo
Juin 1, 2018, 7:32 am

Just started The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin - I hope to finish The Broken Earth Trilogy this month...

5Cecrow
Juin 1, 2018, 8:17 am

I'm looking for a new series to read, but I'm caught between the Expanse, the Ancillary trilogy and the Broken Earth. All three sound great, but I'm a slow reader and would prefer committing to just one (for now).

6lansingsexton
Juin 1, 2018, 10:35 am

I,ve just finished reading Jack McDevitt's early novel Ancient Shores with an eye to reading the recent sequel, Thunderbird some time soon. I enjoyed it, but mixing real people with fictional characters in the denouement always runs the risk of creating a "red shirt" situation, as in this case.

Just before that I read Kristine Kathryn Rusch's The Possession of Paavo Deshin, a seperately published short novel in her Retrieval Artist series. I've enjoyed the series for the initial cleverness of the concept and her inventive aliens. The series began with an outstanding short novel and I've enjoyed the first seven novels, but both Paavo Dushin and the previous short work, The Recovery Man's Bargain were inadequate and unprofessional. Both these books are short novels, in part, by virtue of large print. The Recovery Man's Bargin has literally half it's text taken word for word from her previous novel Recovery Man. The Possession of Paavo Dushin concerns its meager word count with a court case between the natural and foster parents of a little boy. There are no interesting developments in the case and the SF content is so minimal that I began to think that Kristine must have a friend involved in a custody case.

Like others, I'm heavily invested in this enjoyable series because I took a leap of faith and purchased the quality paperback editions of the eight books she wrote all at once and published on a monthly basis as the climax of the whole, at least for now. I hope these terrible short works aren't an omen for the rest of the novels.

7ChrisRiesbeck
Juin 1, 2018, 1:27 pm

>5 Cecrow: The Ancillary series is shorter than the Expanse series, and complete, so that might work better for you. Haven't read the Broken Earth series.

8seitherin
Juin 1, 2018, 2:41 pm

>2 dustydigger: I'm currently reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. So far it is a mild, unchallenging read. And I read Provenance not too long ago. It was an easier read the Ancillary Justice.

9iansales
Modifié : Juin 2, 2018, 5:29 am

>7 ChrisRiesbeck: I thought the Expanse was rubbish, although I only read the first book and only managed 3 or 4 episodes of the TV series. The Ancillary series starts well but tails off drastically. I've only read the first two books of the Broken Earth series and the first is a lot more impressive than the second - but that's usually the nature of middle books in trilogies. Despite the fact it's massively over-rated - all those awards! - I'd say the Broken Earth trilogy is the best of those three.

10SChant
Juin 2, 2018, 8:18 am

>5 Cecrow: In contrast to >9 iansales: I've really enjoyed The Expanse - big, sprawing space-opera with political intrigues and action a-plenty; The Imperial Radch series - unusual viewpoint character again with plenty of politics and action. I've only read The Fifth Season of the Broken Earth series. It was pretty good, but not enough to encourage me to pick up the next ones.

11gypsysmom
Juin 2, 2018, 12:49 pm

>5 Cecrow: I've not read The Expanse but I have read both the Ancillary series and the Broken Earth series and liked them both. The Ancillary series tends to be more science fictionish while the Broken Earth leans toward fantasy more (in my opinion) so that might make a difference for you.

12gypsysmom
Juin 2, 2018, 12:50 pm

I just started reading The Oracle Year and I'm liking it quite well. Too bad it is fiction because an oracle might just be what the USA needs at this point.

13seitherin
Juin 2, 2018, 2:29 pm

>5 Cecrow: If you want to read all the books in a series without having to wait for the next, I'd say read the Jemison or the Leckie and save the Expanse until that series is done. As to which is better, that is such a subjective and personal concept I won't even venture there. I find the Expanse fun to read because I like sprawling space opera. I like Jemison because she tends to have a non-standard approach to fantasy. As for Leckie, I only worked my way thru the first book tho I did enjoy it. It just didn't ring my bell.

14tottman
Juin 2, 2018, 11:32 pm

I'm almost finished with Robots of Gotham by Todd Mcaulty and it's fantastic! Love the concept and the writing!

15fuzzi
Juin 3, 2018, 5:44 pm

I have read the first two books in The Expanse series, and thoroughly enjoyed both. The third is waiting, on my TBR shelves. I didn't ever feel that they were a slog, but read like much shorter volumes.

I've a bunch of vintage Robert Heinlein sitting unread for the most part. However, I just finished Double Star, and really liked it:
An actor is hired to play the part of a missing dignitary, with some predictable and unexpected results.

This is one of the better vintage Heinlein, with plenty of twists and political machinations.

16pan0ramix
Modifié : Juin 4, 2018, 2:19 pm

May was a rather mediocre month for scifi quantity-wise. Quality however was pretty good.

Currently reading:
Gnomon by Nick Harkaway

Finished in May:
The Rift by Nina Allan
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller
Nullingen av Paul Abel by Bjørn Vatne

Planned for June:
Austral by Paul McAuley
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

*cough* Alert readers will notice that plans for June equals plans for May. I'm apparently not that good at following instructions.

17ThomasWatson
Juin 4, 2018, 1:49 pm

Did in fact start Caliban's War for the month of June. The first volume proved a surprisingly enjoyable read. I have a poor track record with books that receive a lot of hype and publicity, so I was pleased when Leviathan Wakes worked out so well. Enjoying the second book so far. (Haven't watched the TV series yet.)

18anglemark
Juin 4, 2018, 2:25 pm

>16 pan0ramix: I take it that I should pick up a copy of Nullingen av Paul Abel? You gave it a whooping 4.5 stars.

19ChrisRiesbeck
Juin 4, 2018, 5:15 pm

>9 iansales: The second Expanse book was substantially better than the first in the diversity of its primary characters. That said, if you hated the first, you'd be unlikely to warm up to the rest.

20iansales
Juin 4, 2018, 7:33 pm

>19 ChrisRiesbeck: I had problems with the plot too - a corporate executive who murders 1.5 million prople just to see if an alien virus could be profitable...

21pan0ramix
Modifié : Juin 5, 2018, 2:59 am

>18 anglemark: anglemark: I think you should, although I probably went a little bit overboard with that score, I was thrilled with finding new Norwegian sci(and cli)-fi that was actually done well, it'll probably mature down toward a more sensible 4 stars on review.

Anyone else do this btw? Rate something just after finishing it and then going back to it some weeks/months later and change the score based on how the book appears from that perspective?

22anglemark
Juin 5, 2018, 3:31 am

>21 pan0ramix: I'll pick it up, then. I like to read something in Norwegian (either dialect) or Danish now and then. And yes, I go back and revise ratings sometimes. I'm always much more enthusiastic directly after finishing a book.

23cindydavid4
Juin 5, 2018, 5:25 am

>21 pan0ramix: Yes. I also have been known to change my mind completely after a book group, usually for the better, sometimes for the worse!

24Cecrow
Juin 5, 2018, 7:43 am

>21 pan0ramix:, yup. The initial review is a gut reaction, then I do some reading up and hearing other opinions, it can influence my perception and bring things into focus that I missed when I read it on my lonesome. Seems fair that I should be willing to stand by whatever star rating I assign, so if I no longer feel like I can then down/up it goes.

25justifiedsinner
Juin 5, 2018, 9:10 am

>20 iansales: I thought you were a Corbynista, Ian. Aren't all corporate CEOs mass-murderers at heart?

26iansales
Juin 5, 2018, 11:38 am

>25 justifiedsinner: Not while Corbyn insists on leaving the EU.

27fuzzi
Juin 5, 2018, 1:19 pm

>20 iansales: a spoiler might have been nice here...

28seitherin
Juin 5, 2018, 9:28 pm

29Shrike58
Juin 5, 2018, 10:12 pm

Knocked off Tomorrow's Kin (B-) this evening; I like the high concept of a first contact taking place on an Earth highly stressed out by economic and environmental collapse, but, like most of the work of Nancy Kress I've read, I can't claim that I felt a lot of emotional involvement.

30cindydavid4
Juin 6, 2018, 12:02 am

Did you ever read her early work, esp beggars in Spain? I so related to the characters and the situation mirrored our society so well that I couldn't help but be emotionally involved in the story. But that might just be me. Ive tried to read her later stuff that is more hard science, and it felt cold to me, so i haven't read her in a while.

31Shrike58
Modifié : Juin 6, 2018, 6:45 am

It's been awhile since I've read Beggars in Spain and I recall feeling a little emotionally distant from that book too, but not to the same degree as I do this one. I will agree that her characters are functional adults with adult concerns, and obsessions, is one of the virtues of the book.

32johnnyapollo
Juin 6, 2018, 10:21 am

Continuing the Broken Earth trilogy with The Obelisk Gate by NK Jemisin. I like this series - very engaging....

33rshart3
Juin 7, 2018, 11:14 pm

Finally reading The Windup Girl -- about halfway through. I'm enjoying it, esp. since I have a liking for dark, post-apocalyptic and/or cyberpunky stuff. I can see why it got all the awards: though it's mostly unoriginal (recycled ideas & scenarios), he's doing it very well. It reminds me in a number of ways of Divine Endurance by Gwynneth Jones. I think hers is more elegantly written though; more original, in its way.

34johnnyapollo
Juin 8, 2018, 10:03 am

Completing the Broken Earth trilogy with The Stone Sky by NK Jemisin.

35dustydigger
Modifié : Juin 8, 2018, 10:26 am

Finished the rather underwhelming A Spell for Chameleon,by Piers Anthony. All the time I was reading it I was wincing when I imagined our own Lola Walser's reaction to Anthony's opinions of women in the book! OUCH!!!!! lol.
The hero ends up with the perfect woman in his opinion.Over a lunar cycle the girl continually changes,(obvious mother goddess as maiden,mother and crone connotations here)starting as a stunningly beautiful but totally stupid brainless dullard,getting less beautiful but increasingly intelligent till she is a person of average looks and average intelligence and she continues on till she is very clever and resourceful, but super, super SUPER ugly (fully described many times by Anthony).
The hero,called (appropriately IMO) Bink,is very satisfied with this situation,but I wouldnt fancy Anthony's chances if Lola got hold of him.A really weird book...... no more Anthony's for me.
I spent weeks preparing for guests from USA and they just left,so my reading has been extremely sparse,but I am part way through The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet,Hominids,The Minority Council and really need to read Provenance as there is a library waiting list for it.All I want to do is flake out and read for at least a weekonce I have restored my house to its original state
All I have to do is find where I stashed the books when I rearrange the whole house to make room for the visitors! :0)

36cindydavid4
Juin 8, 2018, 10:58 am

Oh I loved Piers Anthony in high school, thought he was hilarious. I named a cat Bink because he was run over by a car but wasn't hurt. There were some bits I thought were funny the second time around when I read them. Tried to read them again recently and oh my gawd I couldh't get passed more than a few pages.

37ThomasWatson
Juin 8, 2018, 12:28 pm

I became familiar with Piers Anthony through three earlier works, the Man & Manta series, which I enjoyed. Didn't read anything else until the Xanth books started coming out, when (at the loud insistence of several friends) I read Spell for Chameleon. That was the last book by this author I've read. Just didn't get what they all thought was so hilarious, and since so much of his work in is the same vein... Meh. YMMV

38paradoxosalpha
Juin 8, 2018, 12:31 pm

I found the Xanth books a little painful when I was in grade school. Read the first two and stopped.

39Cecrow
Modifié : Juin 8, 2018, 1:26 pm

Awhile ago I saw this NPR list and thought, "that definitely sounds like worth trying to complete". Then I saw Xanth on the list (albeit just barely, at position 99 out of 100) and thought, "now wait a minute ..."
https://www.npr.org/2011/08/09/139248590/top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books

No list should be taken at face value of course, and I do need to credit this list with leading me to Iain M. Banks.

40SFF1928-1973
Juin 8, 2018, 3:35 pm

>35 dustydigger: I always considered A Spell for Chameleon one of Anthony's least offensive works. Of course it's all relative.

41SFF1928-1973
Juin 8, 2018, 3:37 pm

I'm reading Dangerous Visions 1 by Harlan Ellison. First part of the 3-volume anthology.

42Darth-Heather
Juin 8, 2018, 3:55 pm

>35 dustydigger: I enjoyed Xanth novels when I was a teen and thought puns were the height of humour. Some installments are better than others - I remember Night Mare, Heaven Cent, and Demons Don't Dream being tolerable, however I don't think I would expect to enjoy them now, and I don't generally recommend them. At least you've read one, which is enough of an intro to the concept, but you can probably stop there.

My younger years also held an appreciation for the Incarnations of Immortalities series, which is another example of a good idea that didn't quite bear up. I re-read these a few years ago, and while there were some concepts that still seemed intriguing, the series as a whole had palled for me.

43dustydigger
Modifié : Juin 8, 2018, 5:26 pm

>40 SFF1928-1973: Exactly! If this is the least offensive,I dont think I want to go much further. I didnt find it very funny,found the world a bit meh,and the characters irritating,so enough for me. I only read it because its on the NPR list(that makes 79/100 I've read on that list)but I am not enthralled enough to look for more.Too much on the fantasy side for my tastes I suppose..

44cindydavid4
Juin 8, 2018, 5:28 pm

I think those lists are based on fans reporting favs? I wondered what it was doing there myself.

45dustydigger
Juin 8, 2018, 5:30 pm

>42 Darth-Heather: Most people seemed to have read the series when young. I assume coming to it at 70makes me a little intolerant! lol.
I did read and enjoy more a few of Robert Asprin's Myth series,which seemed a little more lighthearted and fun. But that was about 25 years agoand I havent revisited,so who knows?

46cindydavid4
Modifié : Juin 8, 2018, 8:52 pm

>45 dustydigger: Oh I loved that series! Was reading it about the time I was getting into Dungeons and Dragons and it just all fit together. I still have the books, haven't tried rereading them, mainly because I am afraid they will be dated (or that it will make me miss that D&D group I played in for years till everyone graduated. Never found another that I liked so much so haven't played)

47ScoLgo
Modifié : Juin 8, 2018, 9:12 pm

>35 dustydigger: I recently re-read Chthon and Phthor by Anthony and, though they are much more in the science-fiction realm as opposed to fantasy, the institutionalized abuse toward women that was part of the plot made it difficult to stomach. The underlying sci-fi story was actually pretty good but the invention of the dastardly society of the planet Minion that 'forced' men to abuse women in order to give them pleasure... well, let's just say that I think I'm done with Anthony at this point. Too bad because I still have a lot of his books from when I was a teenager. I recall enjoying the puns and goofy humour. I don't recall the misogyny as much. I guess it mostly went over my head at the time. Oops...

Provenance is also on my TBR, (your touchstone leads elsewhere but I assume we are talking about Ann Leckie's novel?). I'll be interested to hear what you think of it. I really enjoyed the Ancillary trilogy so am looking forward to trying this one as well.

48dajashby
Juin 8, 2018, 9:27 pm

Finally finished The time traveler's wife. Took a while, though I did read other things in and around it. I found the characters engaging, and a fair bit of the writing was pretty good, but it took far too long to say whatever it was it was saying. I've concluded that the science bit was actually complete rubbish. There are several ways to view time as a dimension, and I don't think this one really worked. I'm giving it 3 stars.

49dajashby
Juin 8, 2018, 9:29 pm

Read Every heart a doorway in about a day and a half, and didn't really like it either. There were bits of both JK Rowling and Jasper Fforde in there, but in both cases the originals were better. Cannot fathom why this won a Hugo, unless all the voters were about 16. 2 stars.

50dajashby
Juin 8, 2018, 9:35 pm

After the previous reads I needed a good dose of old fashioned adventure/space opera. I'm reading Northwest of Earth, a collection of stories by C.L. Moore. Werewoman was shortlisted for the Retro Hugo award for Best Novelette of 1939, and so far I've mostly got through Shambleau, which is great stuff.

51cindydavid4
Juin 8, 2018, 9:36 pm

>48 dajashby: Oh I never considered TTW to be science, more fantasy. Tho I do agree with you that some of her ideas about time travel were off to me (and journey through time not wearing clothing when you get there was certanly problematic) But the writing good and the characters - loved the time loops she wove to get them to meet, and the once she wove to make the wedding a success! Ithought of them for a very long time afterwards Would love a sequel with his daughter as the main character.

52dajashby
Modifié : Juin 8, 2018, 9:45 pm

>39 Cecrow: It can't seem to make up its mind whether its a list of books or series. I've actually read all or parts of 48 of the "books" on the list, and some of them are really complete rubbish - I'd also violently disagree with the order in which some of them, have been put. I don't think I've knowingly read any Piers Anthony to comment.

53cindydavid4
Juin 8, 2018, 9:45 pm

Reading and loving Ursula le Guin's No Time to Spare It goes without saying that she has a way with words. Loved this paragraph, at the end of one of the chapters:

"I know that to me, words are things, almost immaterial but actual objects, things and that I like them

I like their most material aspect - the sound of them, heard in the mind, or spoken by the voice.

And right along with that, I like the dances of meaning words do with one another, the endless changes and complexities of there interrelationships in sentence or in text, by which imaginary worlds are shaped and shared.Writing engages me in both of these aspects of words, in the inexhaustible playing which is my life work

Words are my matter, my stuff. they are my skein of yarn my lump of clay, my block of uncarved wood. words are my magic, my antiproverbial cake. I eat it and still have it!"

54dajashby
Modifié : Juin 8, 2018, 9:50 pm

>53 cindydavid4: It's in my pile. Really good quote. I'm currently reading The language of the night, which was published in 1979, that I was lucky enough to find an almost mint copy of a few months ago in a second hand shop at the Market.

55cindydavid4
Modifié : Juin 8, 2018, 9:59 pm

>54 dajashby: wow that does look good (I tended to read novels most of my life its only been in the last 10 years or so that essays have interested me) So I must get this book, obviously not on Amazon because it cost $50 for a mass market paperback! (and Bookfinder is showing even higher prices! ok time for some used bookstore trolling....)

56iansales
Juin 9, 2018, 4:59 am

>47 ScoLgo: and others: I read a lot of Piers Anthony in my late teens and early twenties, but I always thought the Xanth books were awful. Chthon was pretty good, the Cluster series had its moments, I only managed a couple in the Apprentice Adept series before giving up, and the bio of a Space Tyrant series wasn't too bad. I always put him somewhere around the same level as Jack Chalker.

>39 Cecrow: Wow, there a lot of really shit books on that list. I've read 64 of them - for the series at least one book, and in some cases all of the bokos.

57johnnyapollo
Juin 9, 2018, 8:45 am

I've read most of Anthony, as someone mentioned earlier, as a "kid" (started in my teens and read his works into my 20s) and also found the work fun at the time (Xanth, etc). I recently tried a series I missed Refugee part of "Bio of a Space Tyrant" and didn't make it very far. I'm usually fairly nostalgic in my reads but this stuff was pretty bad. Are the earlier books better and this series some of his worst, or is it that my brain has rewired beyond Anthony?

58dajashby
Juin 9, 2018, 9:20 am

>55 cindydavid4: Will you be upset if I tell you my copy cost me $25? :-)

59cindydavid4
Juin 9, 2018, 11:00 am

No, because I kept searching and found a book on ABE for that same price :)

60divinenanny
Juin 9, 2018, 2:23 pm

61iansales
Juin 9, 2018, 3:08 pm

>60 divinenanny: Chris Priest's The Last Deadloss Visions is a famous attack on Ellison for not delivering the third volume.

62divinenanny
Juin 9, 2018, 3:49 pm

>61 iansales: Interesting, thanks. All I knew was from the ISFDB entry (that the third part was never published) but that was all.

63RobertDay
Juin 9, 2018, 4:30 pm

>62 divinenanny: Stories were commissioned for vol.3 and some people even delivered them.

64seitherin
Juin 9, 2018, 6:12 pm

65seitherin
Juin 9, 2018, 8:55 pm

Added Under the Empyrean Sky by Chuck Wendig to my reading rotation.

66SFF1928-1973
Modifié : Juin 10, 2018, 5:46 pm

>47 ScoLgo: Oddly enough Chthon came up in my reading "list" earlier this year. Unfortunately (perhaps) my copy was heavily contaminated by cigarette smoke so I had to give it up a few pages in. I never got to anything offensive beyond women being used as a shared resource, which might have made sense in the undergound prison society of the book.

67SFF1928-1973
Juin 10, 2018, 5:45 pm

>60 divinenanny: Perhaps some understandable confusion. The three volumes I'm reading through at the moment are all the original Dangerous Visions. The first UK paperback in 1974 was published in three volumes, doorstop books not being the fashion at the time. I gather more recently it's reprinted in one volume.

68RobertDay
Juin 10, 2018, 7:12 pm

>67 SFF1928-1973: And seeing as how that's the edition I possess (all three), I beg your pardon for not remembering that.

69iansales
Juin 11, 2018, 1:49 am

>67 SFF1928-1973: Ah. The latest UK paperback edition is the SF Masterwork one, which is a single volume.

70divinenanny
Juin 11, 2018, 1:53 am

>67 SFF1928-1973:
Ah yes. All I own is the second part of the second book (Again Dangerous Visions). Good to realize the first was also published in multiple parts. I was looking at a second hand copy online, but it doesn't have more information than title and editor. Perhaps I am better off buying the masterworks editions.

71RobertDay
Juin 11, 2018, 8:17 am

>70 divinenanny: Funnily enough, I acquired ADV before DV, so when these are discussed I think of the second outing of the format even though I intellectually know about (and possess) the first.

72dustydigger
Juin 11, 2018, 12:33 pm

I finished Long Way to a Small Angry Planet yesterday,good fun and engaging,but undemanding fare.
Am just starting Ready Player One but the print is horrendously small,my eyes tire after just a few pages,its going to take some reading :0(

73fuzzi
Modifié : Juin 11, 2018, 8:43 pm

Finished a reread of Merchanter's Luck by CJ Cherryh. I really enjoy how she gives her characters depth, thoughts, reactions.

>39 Cecrow: thanks for the list. I have read 29.

Not one book by CJ Cherryh, Hugo winner? Or are her books too SciFi to count?

The best Heinlein is not Stranger in a Strange Land imo. I'd go with Friday.

74cindydavid4
Juin 11, 2018, 11:58 pm

>73 fuzzi: actually imho the best Heinlein is The Door Into Summer one of my favorite time travel books!

75seitherin
Juin 12, 2018, 8:44 am

Finished Lincoln's Dream by Connie Willis. Odd read.

76fuzzi
Modifié : Juin 12, 2018, 8:55 am

>74 cindydavid4: I have read that one, and liked it.

The good thing about this author's books is there are a TON of them to choose from, and like.

I have a copy of Friday on my shelves, and have reread it numerous times, but I also have a copy of The Number of the Beast which I also like a lot.

77paradoxosalpha
Juin 12, 2018, 10:26 am

>73 fuzzi: The best Heinlein is not Stranger in a Strange Land imo. I'd go with Friday.

I have to disagree. Friday is decidedly inferior to the shorter original edition of Stranger in a Strange Land--although I can understand a reader preferring Friday to the post-1991 "un-edit." According to Heinlein himself, Stranger was "not science fiction by any stretch of the imagination," so I also suppose it would be fair to call Friday the better "science fiction book."

I preferred both I Will Fear No Evil and Time Enough for Love to Friday, myself.

Stranger has been of immeasurably more social and cultural consequence than any of Heinlein's other novels taken individually.

78dustydigger
Juin 12, 2018, 10:28 am

Ah Cindy,I too have a soft spot for Door,if only because of hero Dan's love of his cat Petronius,''Pete''.
Fave scenes? When Pete gives the two villains their comeuppance,absolutely hilarious.Also the dazzling section where Dan sorts out all the time travel stuff,whizzing around to make everything come out right.Brilliant!!And the bittersweet warmheartedness at the end of the book as Pete is mellowing into old age.
I forgive Bob Heinlein a lot in his later work because of the goodwill he built up with me in this book! :0)

79paradoxosalpha
Juin 12, 2018, 10:34 am

Is there a Heinlein novel after 1960 without a cat?

80vwinsloe
Juin 12, 2018, 11:25 am

>77 paradoxosalpha: According to Heinlein himself, Stranger was "not science fiction by any stretch of the imagination,"

Stanger in a Strange Land is not science fiction in the sense of STEM based so-called "hard" science fiction. But in 1961, sociology and anthropology were not considered sciences. Much of the science fiction that I love explores cultural and religious themes. I don't care what powers their engines. ;>)

81paradoxosalpha
Modifié : Juin 12, 2018, 12:13 pm

>80 vwinsloe:

Well, "hard" or "soft," I think Heinlein's point was that there was no real intent in that book to speculate/prognosticate or to imagine an objective reality removed from our own in time and/or space. He avowedly wrote it as a satire, with counter-factual elements comparable to those in Gulliver's Travels (which gets referenced in the book itself).

82iansales
Juin 12, 2018, 12:16 pm

>80 vwinsloe: it's definitly sf - Valentine Michael Smith is raised by Martians, after all. OTOH, I've always thought of it as a 1940s carnival monster type novel. Lop 20 years off its publication date and it makes a lot more sense.

83iansales
Juin 12, 2018, 12:22 pm

>77 paradoxosalpha: Not sure what I'd call Heinlein's best. I know which ones I REALLY hate. Maybe I'd pick one of his juvenilesm any not even a novel but a short story...

84paradoxosalpha
Modifié : Juin 12, 2018, 12:56 pm

>82 iansales: a 1940s carnival monster type novel

Well, it drew significant inspiration from Nightmare Alley, a book with more literary virtue, if less popular influence.

85ThomasWatson
Juin 12, 2018, 2:30 pm

>77 paradoxosalpha: As much as I enjoyed Stranger in a Strange Land (I had a lot of trouble taking Friday seriously) I'd put Time Enough for Love at the top of my list. There's that scene, where she tells him she hears the wild geese calling... Had I read that scene all unknowing, I'd never have guess it was Heinlein.

86vwinsloe
Modifié : Juin 12, 2018, 2:55 pm

>85 ThomasWatson:. Time Enough for Love is my favorite Heinlein as well.

87RobertDay
Juin 12, 2018, 6:27 pm

No-one seems to be mentioning The Moon is a harsh mistress, which is my personal favourite.

88fuzzi
Modifié : Juin 12, 2018, 9:20 pm

>87 RobertDay: it's been probably over 20 years since I read that one, but I do recall liking it. I also read I Will Fear No Evil, and liked it as well.

I got bogged down in the Lazarus Long books, finishing The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, but gave up with To Sail Beyond the Sunset. I never really liked the family, or Lazarus for that matter, and I want to like someone I'm reading about.

Edited: I have not read Time Enough For Love, had to fix that.

89fuzzi
Juin 12, 2018, 9:24 pm

Just as an aside: when I reread books like Friday I can see where Heinlein nailed cultural trends. There's an absolute spot-on quote from Friday where her boss explains what the symptoms of a dying culture are. As I said, spot-on.

90lansingsexton
Juin 12, 2018, 11:48 pm

I'm also a fan of The Door into Summer. At one point, Heinlein was my favorite SF author, but starting with Farnam's Freehold his books became so full of libertarian rants that I stopped reading him all together. I'm surprised to see so many positive mentions of books from this later period.

92RobertDay
Juin 13, 2018, 7:54 am

>91 iansales: Yes, I recollect reading your review, Ian. Perhaps I ought to have qualified my statement at 87; my personal favourite out of the limited range of Heinlein. Did I say anywhere that I considered it to be a Great Book?

If anything, it encapsulates a lot that we now see writ large in America. In your review, you drew particular attention to what passes for a "penal code" in Heinlein's Luna; death for almost any infraction sufficiently great to cause someone to raise an objection - so everyone is 'naturally' very, very polite to each other. Doesn't this sound like the NRA gun ownership argument to you? It certainly does to me.

93RobertDay
Juin 13, 2018, 8:12 am

Now finished Authority. Will be having a short break from SF with the first of Patrick Leigh-Fermor's reminiscences of walking through Europe in 1933.

94paradoxosalpha
Juin 13, 2018, 10:12 am

>92 RobertDay: so everyone is 'naturally' very, very polite to each other. Doesn't this sound like the NRA gun ownership argument to you? It certainly does to me.

I think Heinlein was a pioneer of this rhetoric, and that he may have been the first to write "An armed society is a polite society." The latter-day NRA has definitely drawn on his writing, with or without acknowledgement.

95iansales
Juin 13, 2018, 1:38 pm

>92 RobertDay: and >94 paradoxosalpha: An interesting parallel. As I pointed out in my review, it doesn't lead to a law-abiding society, it leads to a mostly dead society. As the US is currently proving.

96paradoxosalpha
Juin 13, 2018, 1:41 pm

Well, I don't want to get all rat-holed. But I think "mostly dead" is certainly an overstatement.

On the other hand, frightened and violent are more reliable outcomes than polite.

97nx74defiant
Modifié : Juin 13, 2018, 6:44 pm

98seitherin
Juin 13, 2018, 7:36 pm

Finished Under the Empyrean Sky by Chuck Wendig and started the second book in the series, Blightborn.

99cindydavid4
Juin 13, 2018, 7:56 pm

But in 1961, sociology and anthropology were not considered sciences. Much of the science fiction that I love explores cultural and religious themes. I don't care what powers their engines. ;>)

I never thought about that before; it explains why I love so much of the SF from that period. Hard SF can be fun, but for me exploring cultures, incuding our own, makes it so much more interesting.

100cindydavid4
Juin 13, 2018, 7:56 pm

>93 RobertDay: I hope your first read as joyful for you as it was for me!

101cindydavid4
Juin 13, 2018, 7:57 pm

>96 paradoxosalpha: reminds me, I watched Holy Grail last night on the big screen. Oh my...... (sorry, back to books )

102dajashby
Juin 13, 2018, 9:26 pm

>87 RobertDay: Same here. I also quite liked Space cadet when I read it about 50 years ago. Not a fan of Starship troopers though

103seitherin
Juin 14, 2018, 6:51 am

Added The Postmortal by Drew Magary to my reading rotation.

104SFF1928-1973
Juin 14, 2018, 6:57 am

>73 fuzzi: I can't countenance Friday after reading Lola Walser's review in her thread "Would you give this book to a child?" Spoiler: She wouldn't.

Full disclosure: I'm not a Heinlein fan. The only work of his I've enjoyed was his Future History cycle of short stories and some of his juvenile novels which I read as a teenager.

105SFF1928-1973
Juin 14, 2018, 6:58 am

With what I like to consider impeccable logic I've progressed to Dangerous Visions 2

106DugsBooks
Modifié : Juin 14, 2018, 6:56 pm

I am reading The Bone Clocks sporadically in the ebook format - I am a little confused. Unless I read the story without breaks it takes me several pages to understand which character is providing the dialogues.

107paradoxosalpha
Juin 14, 2018, 7:07 pm

>106 DugsBooks:

I really liked that one, but I read it in a concentrated go while vacationing--very different than your procedure.

108cindydavid4
Juin 14, 2018, 8:02 pm

I really loved it, until about 3/4 of the way through. I am used to Mitchells narration and how he likes to turn heels over heads, but the ending was just off. Still glad I read it.

109fuzzi
Juin 14, 2018, 9:33 pm

>104 SFF1928-1973: would you link me to that?

I'm curious what, aside from some of his "free love" aspects, would be so objectionable?

111justifiedsinner
Juin 15, 2018, 9:23 am

>109 fuzzi: As Heinlein grew older he got a lot creepier. His fixation on young girls and changing bodies with young girls and having sex as a young girl is very high on the ick content.

112RBeffa
Juin 15, 2018, 10:27 am

I thought I would have a bit of fun with an oldie, Jack Vance's Big Planet but I abandoned it rather quickly. I then gave Robert Charles Wilson's short novel BIOS a try, and at the halfway point I am finding it much better than some of the mixed reviews suggested it might be. Pretty much a coming of age story a couple centuries from now on an extremely hostile planet. I generally like Wilson's stories a lot but he sometimes disappoints with the endgame. I hope this isn't one of those.

113fuzzi
Juin 15, 2018, 10:41 am

Thanks for the link, but I did not see specifics as to why she said that.

I refer to the later Heinlein works as having elements of "free love", and would not hand one of those to a youngster, but I did manage to read several of them as a young adult and don't recall anything in particular that was "creepy".

I liked the writing of Jean Auel, but had to stop reading her books because the endless graphic descriptions of the sexual escapades just ruined the stories. For me.

114fuzzi
Juin 15, 2018, 10:43 am

>111 justifiedsinner: I must have missed some of the works you're referencing. I don't recall any underage relationships.

I despised Job: A Comedy of Justice, but kept reading hoping it would get better. It didn't. So I won't reread it. Simple enough.

115Cecrow
Modifié : Juin 15, 2018, 10:58 am

>113 fuzzi:: regarding Lola's specifics in her analysis, she believes Heinlein's novel suggests:
- degrees of rape that can be more or less enjoyed
- rape is worse for men than for women
- all men are essentially rapists and therefore rape should be tolerated
- a woman being gang-raped could or would study her rapists and grade them in terms of which ones she might like in a consensual encounter

Not having read the novel myself, I can't comment. Having read other work by the author however, I wouldn't be surprised.

116ChrisRiesbeck
Juin 15, 2018, 4:32 pm

Finished Perdido Street Station. Started The One and Only Ivan which I'll count as fantasy with its talking animals.

117fuzzi
Juin 15, 2018, 6:07 pm

>115 Cecrow: aha. Now I see.

But what is missing is the context of who/what Miss Friday actually is. And that makes a difference.

118iansales
Juin 16, 2018, 5:27 am

>117 fuzzi: No, not really. Rape is objectionable and in 99% of cases there is no good reason for it to feature in a novel

119fuzzi
Juin 16, 2018, 7:48 am

>118 iansales: your opinion is noted. Gratuitous sex and violence is something I abhor and avoid, but didn't feel that this instance qualified as such.

120seitherin
Juin 16, 2018, 6:38 pm

Finished Blightborn by Chuck Wendig and started the last book in the trilogy, The Harvest. Liking it.

121RBeffa
Juin 16, 2018, 7:51 pm

For the record, I mostly enjoyed the early "juvenile" Heinlein. The later Heinlein, no. I think Friday put me off my Heinlein feed permanently. But it might have been the Job one.

>112 RBeffa: As for RCW's Bios , I would not call it one of Wilson's great books like Spin, but it was OK and I'd rate it on the mid-to-higher end of an average read. I've now read about ten of Robert Charles Wilson's books and have yet to encounter a stinker.

122Lynxear
Modifié : Juin 17, 2018, 6:33 pm

>113 fuzzi: Clan of the Cave Bear by Auel was a great book and the next two afterward were not bad either. The wheels fell off for me (aside for the fact she discovered every thing from flint and steel making fire to the wheel) was the fact that it seemed like half of her later novels was flashbacks to what you already knew. It became boring reading the same stuff over and over again

123cindydavid4
Juin 17, 2018, 8:49 pm

I couldn't get thro one of her books. Coz yeah, the wheels fell off for me when she knew all this stuff, that even tho it was a fantasy novel, my suspension bridge of disbelief fell apart early on.

124tottman
Juin 17, 2018, 11:32 pm

I'm reading Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio. It's kind of a doorstopper so I'm not that far into it, but I like it so far. I've seen some comparisons to a SF version of Patrick Rothfuss and Name of the Wind. I get the comparison, it's a tragic character whom you're not sure is a hero or a villain telling his life story after he is infamous, but I don't want to put those unreasonable expectations on it. It's good though.

125Sakerfalcon
Juin 18, 2018, 6:14 am

This weekend I read The collapsing empire which was a fun start to a new space opera series. If you enjoyed Behind the throne you'll probably like this.

126johnnyapollo
Juin 18, 2018, 8:49 am

Finished up The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin - overall I enjoyed the books quit a bit although there were a few things that confused me during the read, they mostly resolved themselves by the end. Taking a break and reading A Wanted Man by Lee Child...

128Shrike58
Modifié : Juin 19, 2018, 6:22 am

Finished with The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (B) yesterday evening. I can see why some folks love this book to death but it really wasn't grabbing me. Still, I'm impressed enough with Chambers that I'd give another one of her novels a chance.

129anglemark
Juin 19, 2018, 7:17 am

>128 Shrike58: I couldn't finish that one. Too bland and trite. However, I gave the sequel a chance and really liked it. There's much more substance to the second one.

130Shrike58
Juin 19, 2018, 8:17 am

It's a first novel so you have to cut folks some slack but I also suspect that if I had been in a more cheerful mood I might have responded better. Also, the best of what I've read this year are stiff competition.

131seitherin
Juin 19, 2018, 8:26 am

Finished The Harvest by Chuck Wendig. Overall, I liked this YA dystopian trilogy.

Next into the rotation is 84K by Claire North.

132SFF1928-1973
Juin 19, 2018, 9:41 am

I'm pushing ahead with Dangerous Visions 3. I'm enjoying the stories but not so much the lengthy biographical introductions and extraneous authorial afterwords. The stories can speak for themselves and that's generally how I prefer it. Anyway I've started reading the story first and then going back to read the introduction for the sake of completeness.

133cindydavid4
Juin 19, 2018, 10:15 am

>131 seitherin: Is that her new book? I loved The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and The Sudden Appearance of Hope Looking forward to this one!

134cindydavid4
Modifié : Juin 19, 2018, 10:17 am

Has anyone read Space Opera Seeing it compared to Hitchikers Guide, which worries me, coz that was such a great book and I don't want to be disappointed....

135anglemark
Juin 19, 2018, 10:36 am

>134 cindydavid4: If it's like the Hitch-hikers Guide I will be sorely disappointed. Valente is a master stylist and Douglas Adams I never really cared for... ;)

136cindydavid4
Juin 19, 2018, 10:53 am

Ha! Ok we'll see how we end up on this one :)

137anglemark
Juin 19, 2018, 10:58 am

>136 cindydavid4: At least one of us might be happy!

138seitherin
Juin 19, 2018, 1:26 pm

>133 cindydavid4: I believe it is. I've only read the first page so I don't have an opinion yet. I've also read The first Fifteen Lives of Harry August and The Sudden Appearance of Hope. I've also got Touch and The End of the Day in my TBR pile.

139cindydavid4
Juin 19, 2018, 1:59 pm

I tried reading those last two but they didn't take like the first. Think I needed a break, Ill try them again sometime

140Jahearn
Juin 19, 2018, 2:43 pm

HI! I just finished "Dune" for the 20th time and enjoyed rereading it, I am currently reading Dune Messiah and Ringworld is on my list but the library I work at doesn't have it, I am open to suggestions for epic science fiction novels.

141dustydigger
Modifié : Juin 19, 2018, 8:23 pm

I have just finished Ernest Cline's Ready Player One,and found it great fun. I have never been into gaming,a sloth has quicker reaction times than me,but the book brought back nostalgic memories of my sons excitement and pleasure back in the 80s. And I was ruefully amused at just how much of the geeky stuff,games and films have stuck with me!Wouldnt have thought any of it would strike a chord,but all those hours of watching my son play games,or watching those 80s flicks that my kids adored obviously wormed their way into my brain.lol.
Charming,fun, and very entertaining.
Its a great week for reading because I am also thoroughly enjoying Simak's All Flesh is Grassand also have just obtained his City. Ann Leckie's Provenance,however,is very dry,slow,with unappealing characters,and confusing and irritating gender stuff as usual.. Just not my cup of tea at all,I have barely been able to pull myself through the Ancillary seriesand this is even less appealing than that!.it is going to take a while to plod my way through it - and after Simak.......

142lansingsexton
Juin 20, 2018, 8:08 am

>141 dustydigger: City is one of my all time favorites. I'll be interested to see what you think of it.

143johnnyapollo
Juin 20, 2018, 9:46 am

Not SF but still trying to get caught up on Lee Child - currently into Never Go Back - much different from the movie....

144RobertDay
Juin 20, 2018, 11:29 am

>143 johnnyapollo: A few weeks ago, I read the first 50 pages or so of my sister's copy of Persuader whilst waiting for her to get ready to go out for a meal. Effective scene-setting, but all I could find out about Jack Reacher was what I'd read in other blurbs; no obvious characterisation came through in the text. Not about to dash out and get my own copy to see how it ends.

145SFF1928-1973
Juin 20, 2018, 11:36 am

>141 dustydigger: Oddly enough "All Flesh..." isn't one of my favourite Simaks. But he does get credit for inventing the "Town Under a Dome" trope recycled in "The Simpsons Movie" and, er, "Under the Dome".

146Cecrow
Juin 21, 2018, 7:49 am

>140 Jahearn:, Dusty and I have found the NPR recommendations worth considering. Dune (#4) and Ringworld (#44) are both on there.
https://www.npr.org/2011/08/09/139248590/top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books

Unfortunately no easy way to filter science fiction from fantasy in that list, if you're concerned about that.

147johnnyapollo
Juin 21, 2018, 9:05 am

Currently revisiting old friends with Nine Princes in Amber...

148iansales
Juin 21, 2018, 4:02 pm

>140 Jahearn: you might want to try something that's not 50 or 40 years old...

149Stevil2001
Juin 21, 2018, 5:11 pm

>128 Shrike58:, >129 anglemark: I found The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet tedious and dull, but I read A Closed and Common Orbit because it was a Hugo finalist, and I ended up genuinely moved by the book's end. Not as substantial as most of the other stuff on last year's ballot (which was generally strong), but still enjoyable, and I'm glad I gave it a chance. I'll pick up the third one when it comes out.

150dustydigger
Modifié : Juin 21, 2018, 8:50 pm

>145 SFF1928-1973: I really enjoyed about the first 150 pages of All Flesh,but once the protagonist returned to his own world after the intriguing visit to the alternate world, it became a little disappointing.But I always enjoy Simak's writing,his descriptions of nature,and his love of humanity even while he despairs of our inability to live in peace and harmony! lol.

151dustydigger
Modifié : Juin 21, 2018, 9:15 pm

Finished Robert J Sawyer's Hugo winning Hominids and wasnt impressed.Great premise,but clunky writing,stilted dialogue and far too much effort put in to trying to make the premise sound feasible. Honestly cant be bothered to explain it all to you.lol
Worst of all,the Neanderthals and their societyare portrayed as so wonderful,so much better than homo sapiens, to such a ludicrous degree that I was irritated rather than in awe.I enjoyed several of Sawyer's other books,so this was a letdown. Not sure what the Hugo voters saw in this one. Oh well,that makes 58/66 Hugos completed now.Steady progress!
Next up from the list will probably be The Obelisk Gate and 2312 Yep,the dreaded KSR. If he doesnt win the Hugo this year,that will make my last enforced read of this author.lolWith my luck he will trounce all the others so that i have two to read! :0)

152ScoLgo
Juin 21, 2018, 11:07 pm

>140 Jahearn: For epic SF, look no farther than the first two Hyperion books. If you enjoy those, it's worth finishing the tetralogy by picking up the Endymion duology as well. Even though the later books tail off quite a bit, they are still worth reading as they fill in details and answer any lingering mysteries remaining from the first two books.

153SChant
Juin 22, 2018, 9:26 am

About to start Aliette de Bodard's The Tea Master and the Detective. I like her style of writing and her science-fiction through a Vietnamese lense is always interesting.

154RBeffa
Juin 22, 2018, 10:16 am

>151 dustydigger: I read the Hominids trilogy about 5 years ago - the 2nd book is better than the first and imo the third one, hybrids was the worst. The darker side of the neanderthals shows up after the first book. overall the idea was clearly better than he execution.

The google logo today celebrates Octavia Butler's 71st birthday.

155DugsBooks
Modifié : Juin 22, 2018, 1:50 pm

Aha, and repeating >154 RBeffa: an article at space.com on the topic.

Google Doodle Honors Science Fiction Author Octavia E. Butler

>140 Jahearn: My library does not have Ringworld either except for the audio and I fell asleep within 5 minutes of playing it every time!

156seitherin
Juin 22, 2018, 10:13 pm

Finished 84K by Claire North. Hated it.

Next into the mix is A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers.

157cindydavid4
Juin 23, 2018, 2:02 am

158dustydigger
Modifié : Juin 23, 2018, 3:50 am

I enjoyed the first Eden Moore story,Four and Twenty Blackbirds but this second tale,Wings to the Kingdom disappointed me .I found it dull,overdetailed and very unexciting indeed.The author seemed to be trying for a subtle ominous light touch of horror,but all I seemed to get was lots of running around in the ubiquitous fog. But I started so I'll finish, I have book 3 of the trilogy,Nor Flesh nor Feathers on my shelf.
I still have Provenance and The Minority Counciland Oscar Wilde's short story The Canterville Ghost left on this month's reading list.then it will be 2312 and The Obelisk Gate on the award winners trail

159johnnyapollo
Juin 23, 2018, 8:06 am

Still revisiting old friends - Now reading The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny....

160seitherin
Juin 23, 2018, 4:07 pm

>157 cindydavid4: I have come to detest the flow of consciousness disjointed rambling as a storytelling trope. 84K was that kind of book. For me, there was nothing enjoyable about either the style or the actual story. As I said, hated it.

Finished The Postmortal by Drew Magary. Liked it tho I was a bit disappointed by the ending.

161SChant
Juin 24, 2018, 3:47 am

Just started The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo. I'm finding it a bit lightweight.

162pan0ramix
Juin 24, 2018, 12:35 pm

Just finished Gnomon by Nick Harkaway and I'm not sure what I think yet. Some parts were fantastic, and some others were dull as potatoes. It could possibly have been 200 pages shorter and still gotten its message across.

163seitherin
Juin 25, 2018, 6:45 am

Added The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi to my reading rotation.

164dustydigger
Juin 25, 2018, 11:55 am

Finished The Canterville Ghost Still plodding through Provenance

165anglemark
Juin 25, 2018, 12:58 pm

>164 dustydigger: Is the touchstone for Provenance correct or did you mean Provenance?

166Shrike58
Juin 25, 2018, 9:49 pm

Finished All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault (A) this evening which I found to be a cool superhero romp.

167dustydigger
Juin 27, 2018, 5:17 am

I was rather bored with the first half of Ann Leckie's Provenance,but it did pick up a little in the latter stages,but all in all very ordinary - and the heroine was always breaking down in tears when in danger! lol Probably more realistic than the usual unperturbable heroines,but not as exciting as the kick butt type :0)
Now on to Obelisk Gate and 2312

168RobertDay
Juin 27, 2018, 7:51 am

About to make a start on Charlie Stross' collection of shorts, Wireless.

169johnnyapollo
Juin 27, 2018, 9:27 am

Now reading the Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny....

170justifiedsinner
Juin 27, 2018, 9:35 am

About 100 pages into Station Eleven started off well but I'm not so sure about the extended Hollywood flashback.

171Shrike58
Juin 27, 2018, 10:53 am

My response to Leckie was a bit tepid too until I realized that this was supposed to be a comedy of manners as much as anything else but I still couldn't shake the feeling that the protagonist really should have known better if she was the age in question; oh well, people do dumb things in real life too!

172lorannen
Juin 27, 2018, 12:03 pm

For my part, I've had to set aside Crosstalk, my book club read this month, for travel purposes. I'm about 75 pages in and I'm not so sure about this one. It's my first Connie Willis, too, so I had high hopes—I hear Doomsday Book might be more suited to me.

I'm traveling with the obligatory Stardust, so I can refer back to it for One LT, One Book discussion, as well as Perdido Street Station, which I haven't opened up just yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

>167 dustydigger: Lucky duck! Obelisk Gate is maybe my favorite of the trilogy. Not that it's successor isn't on par, just... there's that stigma around middle-of-the-trilogy novels, and I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one.

I do not envy you the 2312 attempt, though. This was a book club read for me last year, and I gave it my standard 100-pages to hook me, and it didn't. It was such a slog. I'm reticent to attempt anything else of Robinson's, after that.

173DugsBooks
Juin 27, 2018, 1:22 pm

>169 johnnyapollo: I have always thought The Amber series would make a good template for a movie or film series - at least since special effects have become more accessible. The first book especially, where a normal life is suddenly interrupted by some startling weird stuff. I thought Zelazny handled the transition well. Books at the end of the series lose a little luster and would probably take some rewrites IMOHO.

175dajashby
Juin 27, 2018, 11:23 pm

Just reread Foundation for the first time in an age - I was looking for something that I didn't have to think about too much. I first read the book in the back of Robinsons Bookshop in Frankston (sorry, Mr Robinson!) almost 50 years ago, and Asimov has always been for me the archetypal Golden Age sf writer. I can't think of an Asimov story that I haven't enjoyed reading. Although having said that, I found it remarkable on this re-reading that the book doesn't have a single female character until the very last episode, and she's a shrew. In Isaac's defence, the stories were written in the 1930's and early '40's, and his later writings feature a number of strong female characters.

176johnnyapollo
Modifié : Juin 28, 2018, 7:42 am

>173 DugsBooks: On this reread (and I've read all the books a few times) of the Amber series I realized that the first book was rather mediocre and that it's the second book that really takes off the entire concept. Nine Princes in Amber seems rushed and a bit haphazard when compared to the following books. The relationships seem a bit arcane now too and all the cigarette smoking is a bit distracting....

177lansingsexton
Juin 28, 2018, 11:13 am

I've only read the Amber books once, and that rather long ago. I was astonished and pleased by the concept and the handling in Nine Princes in Amber, although I remember it weakening a bit in the later half. Guns of Avalon was my least favorite among the Corwin books. Overall, I thought they were splendid.

178DugsBooks
Juin 28, 2018, 1:42 pm

>176 johnnyapollo: Yep, as I remember it the second Amber book is where it is solid SF/Fantasy from cover to cover. I just thought the morphing from an ordinary detective format into an SF adventure in the first book was neat - when I first read it years ago.

179Dr_Flanders
Juin 30, 2018, 5:56 pm

I just finished Five Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin. It is an expanded edition of Four Ways to Forgiveness. I really enjoyed these stories.

180Sakerfalcon
Juil 2, 2018, 4:39 am

I'm reading Lilith's brood by Octavia Butler. I've read the first book before but am now continuing on to the rest of the trilogy.

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