polishgenius Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 6 hours ago, williamjm said: I finished Yoon Ha Lee's Ninefox Gambit. It's a very interesting book, plunging the reader straight into the middle of a Universe based on principles very different from our own and which is generally reluctant to go into too much explanation about how any of it works. I thought there was enough explained to make it possible to follow the story, although I found it hard to really visualise some things like what the Fortress of Shattered Needles or the moth spacecraft looked like. Cheris and Jedao were both intriguing characters, the supporting characters might not get much time spent on them but even in some of the brief sections written from other points of view there is some good characterisation. One small problem is that it felt like we saw very little of the real enemy. The sequel, Raven Stratagem, just came out on Thursday. Started it, enjoying it a great deal so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 34 minutes ago, polishgenius said: The sequel, Raven Stratagem, just came out on Thursday. Started it, enjoying it a great deal so far. I'll probably pick it up once I get through the other Hugo nominees (this may take a while). Read a few chapters of Too Like The Lightning, I wasn't particularly expecting the style it is written in but it seems interesting so far, the world-building is a bit reminiscent of The Diamond Age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunhilda Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 Finished Silkworm. Better than I'd remembered it, probably because the gore factor was so big in the first read through, but there were some great Robin hero moments. She shone in this one even more than Cuckoo. Started Career of Evil, which my biggest issue on first read was Robin carrying the idiot ball a lot. Let's see if it improves. I know the ending is still going to happen (grrrr) but I'm going in knowing the "whodunnit" and the "whatsgonnahappen". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Finished the next one by J.M. Coetzee "Disgrace". Again, a pretty good book (but I found "Waiting for the Barbarians" more original and more gripping), certainly worth a Booker, not sure if really worth a Nobel. Started his "Life and times of Michael K" and this one will be my last from this author for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Finished The Greatest Story Ever Told -- So Far by Lawrence Krauss, a good rec from the non-fiction thread. This is a history of the development of the theory and understanding of particle physics. I have no formal education in particle physics beyond electrons, protons and neutrons but I still found this to be a very clear and succinct description of the evolution of research in this space, explaining all the concepts along the way without (fortunately or unfortunately) building a full text book description of the concepts and underlying math. The only theory so abstract as to be challenging is the spontaneous symmetry breaking, but it feels fully explained by the end of the discussion of the Higgs Field. Well worth a read. Now reading Seven Surrenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Finally finished Wishsong. Meh from start to finish. Ah, well. Such is the danger of revisiting childhood favorites. Elfstones at least held up pretty well, I think. Next up I'm going for a change of pace with On Beauty by Zadie Smith. I have no clue what it's about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodor the Articulate Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 I finally got around to finishing the Red Rising trilogy. It was disappointingly meh. I don't get the hype around it - people kept telling me it was like Hunger Games and ASOIAF, which it was in terms of plot and narrative, but it was nowhere near the quality of said books. *Sigh* my plan to go through modern top sellers is off to a rocky start. I think I might re-read Dune now, which I started when I was 14 but never managed to finish, to cleanse my palate. Then try again with Handmaid's Tale. That looks promising *fingers crossed* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 I finished Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi last week. It was typical Scalzi, it was interesting how it triggered the little I remembered about about The Last Colony from when I read it 9 years ago. After that I read The Kill Society by Richard Kadrey, book 9 in his Sandman Slim series. I liked it quite a bit more than I did the past two, especially book 7, that was definitely the low point of the series. But I guess that book 8 wasn't that great either, because I definitely didn't remember the whys of how it ended. With the change of venue and Stark's circumstances, I really liked the way this one built tension to a great climax. It also set up book 10 very nicely. Although, I was quite disappointed to find that the last 77 pages of the book were a novella that was published back in 2012. At least I noticed it before I finished the actual book, that would have really pissed me off. Now I've started Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty. Not in far enough to have an opinion yet, but I do really enjoy Lafferty's short fiction. 1 hour ago, Hodor the Articulate said: I finally got around to finishing the Red Rising trilogy. It was disappointingly meh. I don't get the hype around it - people kept telling me it was like Hunger Games and ASOIAF, which it was in terms of plot and narrative, but it was nowhere near the quality of said books. *Sigh* my plan to go through modern top sellers is off to a rocky start. I never got the love for this either, but I also stopped after being extremely disappointed by the first book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 9 minutes ago, RedEyedGhost said: I never got the love for this either, but I also stopped after being extremely disappointed by the first book. I agree with REG about something. Must be the end times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.T. Phipps Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 I finished reading OLD MAN'S WAR up to the HUMAN DIVISION. I think ZOE'S TALE was the last good one as I just didn't enjoy the whole conspiracy angle. It didn't make much sense and I also felt the series lost of what made it unique when it made the Colonial Union something not necessary to human civilization. I think the series should have ended at THE LAST COLONY personally. I also have finished the HARD LUCK HANK series up to ROBOT FARTS and I love the story. Not every book is a complete winner and they need a larger cast and less time skips but the protagonist is such a lovable thug, it's hard not to really enjoy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andorion Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 4 hours ago, Darth Richard II said: I agree with REG about something. Must be the end times. I had the same issue with Red Rising. I had no idea why it was so popular. Same dystopian weird social divisions, same shallow protagonists, same strange and arbitrary competition - none of it appealed to me at all. I have never picked up the later books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.T. Phipps Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 2 hours ago, Andorion said: I had the same issue with Red Rising. I had no idea why it was so popular. Same dystopian weird social divisions, same shallow protagonists, same strange and arbitrary competition - none of it appealed to me at all. I have never picked up the later books. Interestingly, I was just about to check that out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
End of Disc One Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 To each his own. I never got the Hunger Games hype, but loved the hell out of Red Rising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Count me another one who didn't enjoy the Red Rising series. I read the whole trilogy desperately hoping it would get better. It did not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 I finished Philip Caputo's, A Rumor of War. Haunting and frustratingly tragic memoir of the Vietnam War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiDisaster Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Update on my previous statement re: Assassin's Apprentice WHY DID THE DAMN DOG HAVE TO DIE AGAIN 4 hours ago, End of Disc One said: To each his own. I never got the Hunger Games hype, but loved the hell out of Red Rising. Same. Didn't care for Hunger Games at all but the whole RR trilogy was fantastic to me. Good "popcorn" audiobooks. Looking forward to the next trilogy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Just finished Dark Matter. Quite intriguing and made me think a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodor the Articulate Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 Dark Matter...gotta add that to my huge book pile. 21 hours ago, C.T. Phipps said: Interestingly, I was just about to check that out. Well, a lot of other people seem to like it, so you might still enjoy it. I mean, it wasn't terrible, and author did have some interesting things to say about rebellions (though I thought he was somewhat inconsistent about his "message"). But RR is pretty much the book equivalent to a summer blockbuster - lots of action, testosterone, and clichés. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 I finished the last of my little Coetzee survey yesterday: Life and times of Michael K. This is probably the oddest, most kafkaesque of the three I read. It earned him his first Booker prize in 1983. Overall I think the two earlier strangely dystopic and vaguely kafkaesque books (this one and Waiting for the barbarians) are more interesting than the in most respects more conventional "Disgrace". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Finished Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer, the conclusion to Too Like The Lightning. This impressively convoluted utopian SF wraps up very well, although there does appear to be another novel to come. There are too many mini-plots for real narrative coherence or character development but each allows the author to introduce another philosophical concept or dilemma (which is this author's greatest strength) and all are satisfactorily wrapped up by the end. Unfortunately it still requires vast suspension of disbelief that a single pimp could control all the most powerful people in the world despite them knowing it -- that the rich and powerful couldn't find an outlet for their kinks without conceding all their power, that said pimp offered sufficient patronage for some to reach highest office. It's not only improbable but it's also out of character for most of these leaders to do willingly concede their power and not seek alternatives. But I suggest the read is worth suspending critical doubt and just enjoy this story of ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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