December 2017: Better Late Than Never

[williamjm]

I finished Steph Swainston's Fair Rebel. Not a bad book, although it perhaps peaked in the middle and the rest of it was a bit predictable at times. I didn't find the villains of the story entirely convincing, while I think they have genuinely good reasons for feeling disaffected their actions do seem ludicrously disproportionate.

Now started James S.A. Corey's Persepolis Rising. I wasn't particularly expecting the book to start in the way it does, but I suppose it does make sense to allow the authors to fully explore the consequences of the ending of the previous book.

[Larry of the Lawn]

Finished Peter Watts' Starfish.  It was really fucking good.  

[Isildur's Mane]

So I ended up finishing Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb and Winnie the Pooh: The Complete Collection of Stories and Poems by A A Milne.

I really enjoyed Assassin's Apprentice. I had read it about 9/10 years ago but had completely forgotten it. But I loved it. I'm a couple of pages into the next one (which I haven't read yet) and I'm liking it so far. 

I adored Winnie the Pooh. I loved the stories and I forgot how much I loved Pooh. I didn't like the poems as much though. They just felt tacked on at the end. 

[Ski the Swift]

On 29/12/2017 at 4:45 AM, Astromech said:

Mary Beard's, SPQR. Engaging overview of Ancient Rome from the beginnings up to Caracalla's mass granting of Roman citizenship in 212 CE. Nice refresher on historical events. The strongest parts are those dealing with social aspects of the Roman Empire.

I finished this a bit earlier in the year, my first foray into history literature and I enjoyed it a lot.

I've just finished The Unholy Consult and I don't think I've ever finished a book with such a salty taste left in my mouth (ha! See what I did there?)

Currently on China Miéville's October about the Russian revolutions, slow start so far.

[Astromech]

8 hours ago, Ski the Swift said:

I finished this a bit earlier in the year, my first foray into history literature and I enjoyed it a lot.

 

Yeah it was an interesting read. Perfect for getting a broad overview of Ancient Rome and highlighting events, individuals, etc. for further readings.

I just finished Ben H. Winters, The Last Policeman. An investigation into a suspicious suicide set against the backdrop of an impending asteroid strike on Earth. What's the point of investigating the suicide if everyone will be dead in six-months time? This is the first book in a trilogy. I'm interested in discovering where this story goes.

[RedEyedGhost]

I'm halfway through Persepolis Rising and am really enjoying it.  Wish I had had more time to read it this month; I should have more free time next month.

[Lily Valley]

Just finished The Clockwork Boys.  I liked it, but it's half a freakin' book.  Also finished Pullman's Book of Dust I.  I liked it, but that boat journey was too loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong.

Is it time for a Hugo roundup?  Lemme check my email for the deadline.

[Iskaral Pust]

Just finished The Fell Sword, second in the Red Knight/Traitor Son cycle by Miles Cameron.  Just as good as the first, with plenty of medieval military strategy plausibly linked to broader governance and geopolitics.  

Then I started Secondborn, about a dystopian society where all second born children are disenfranchised servants of the state not allowed to procreate (and there are no third born).  I dropped it quickly.  Seems suited to readers who want to wallow in family dysfunction.  It felt similar in angst to the Divergent movie.  There was a major flaw in the world-building: the number of second born must be no greater than the number of first born, but we see every first born with a coterie of second born servants/slaves/guards — the math doesn’t work. 

[Darth Richard II]

On 12/27/2017 at 0:05 PM, Hello World said:

I'm almost done with my It reread and it's still one of my favorite books. I figured I'd reread it before watching the new adaptation. Although I'm still bummed that it apparently doesn't have a certain scene.  I'll try to read another book before year end. Either Matter or The Reality Dysfunction. 

Ew, I hope you don't mean THAT scene.

 

[Hello World]

Nah, I meant the turtle scene. 

[Darth Richard II]

3 minutes ago, Hello World said:

Nah, I meant the turtle scene. 

Oh good.

And I hear they might use that into the sequel somehow.

[Garett Hornwood]

I finished Ancient Mysteries by Rupert Furneaux last Thursday and it was alright, but it was dated (late 70s/early 80s) in its scientific evidence (obviously) and Furneaux tried to be edgy in some of his answers to the topics he covered.

My last book of the year was Western Civilization to 1500 by Walther Kirchner, it was a survey of 5500 years of history in under 300 pages through about 3500 of that was covered in the first 30 pages.  Basically the focus was on Europe starting with Greece (surprise) at about 500 BCE.  Learned a lot of Greek and Roman history I didn't know before, especially the decline of the Republic before Caesar.  But since the book was published in the early 1960s, it was dated and had some disparaging terminology for some cultures and had a mixture of historical theories (the book was meant as a study guide for students and covered several textbooks at the time; as well as for general history readers).  Overall it was good and is now a handy little reference book.