Peadar

I started Adrian Tchaikovsky's City of Last Chances. Loving it so far. Really delivers on the worldbuilding.

On 1/11/2023 at 6:44 PM, Zorral said:

This stated, the author-narrator is outright wrong with her/his footnote regarding slavery -- stating slavery was invented by Europeans, nobody else.  This just is not true, as even the most cursory of cursory google will reveal. One presumes then, the author, being Chinese, is thinking 'China.'  Nevertheless, China too kidnapped and enslaved in both ancient and medieval and later periods.

To be fair, the book is factually wrong about lots of things. As somebody who can speak Irish and has an MA in Italian linguistics, I spotted a lot of errors in these areas. I'm sure that people here who are experts in other fields will find issues too. However, it's a big book with such a wide scope that it would have been (in my opinion), impossible to research everything to sufficient depth to avoid making mistakes. Such is the fate of an author!

I finished The Last Blade Priest by W.P. Wiles. Very enjoyable with a great low-fantasy take on elves.

Up next, historical fiction with Rose Tremain's Restoration. Great start.

8 hours ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

I read this back in September and really liked it quite a lot. 

FYI, this is the author's first secondary world fantasy. He mainly writes literary fiction under the name Will Wiles.

I figured it wasn't his first rodeo. Very well written, but also great worldbuilding so far -- only about a fifth of the way through it.

I have just started The Last Blade Priest by W.P. Wiles. I think I'm going to like it, but early days yet.

I ended up really enjoying Paul M. Duffy's Run with the Hare, Hunt with the Hound. It came from a small press I'd never heard of, but it's so rare to see this setting in fiction, I took a risk.

Set in Medieval Ireland at the time of the Norman invasion, it is written by an archaeologist who really knows the period well. At one point -- not a spoiler -- there is a scene where the hero comes upon a woman washing bloody clothing in a stream. This is an image straight out of Irish mythology (the goddess of war is always doing this).

The novel is wonderfully poetic; full of fascinating characters and a love story that is everything you expect, until it becomes something very different -- and no, not that other thing you were expecting.

It's not really a battle book, though there are a few battles and many action scenes.

And TW for violence, including of a sexual kind.

I enjoyed Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I thought there were a few genuinely moving moments towards the end.

Now, I'm starting an Irish historical novel called Run with the Hare, Hunt with the Hound by Paul M. Duffy.

Lots of great suggestions here!

I would recommend The Quincunx by Charles Palliser. Lots of it does not take place in winter, but it feels wintry and brutally cold.

Also, in an SF vein, there's probably no future city I'd love to live in more than David Zindell's Neverness. You have to skate everywhere! Furs obligatory. Hot chocolate. Oh, and wonderful, mind-blowing worldbuilding.

I too am reading Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Strong start.

I used to read them all the time -- back when I wrote them more often. These days, unfortunately, I tend only to look at the ones on the Hugo list every year or, if one of my favourites, like Ted Chiang or Adam Roberts has a collection out, I might get that.

However, I agree with you that Beneath Ceaseless Skies is a great little website.

About to start Generation Nemesis by Sean McMullen. Cli-fi, by the looks of things...

8 hours ago, Wilbur said:

If Harry Turtledove is not to your taste, beware that this book has all of the hallmarks of his later work.  Characters re-state the same set of facts or situations to each other multiple times throughout the story.  He must be dictating his stuff, and it would be good if his editor would assign someone the job of chopping some of those repetitive conversations out.  

That's why I eventually gave up on the series. After a while, I just couldn't take any more of the repetition, even though the "worldbuilding" was so convincing.

I have started Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution, by R.F. Kuang. Very enjoyable so far.

I'm reading Chokepoint Capitalism by Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow. Enjoying it so far and keeping my rage under control.

I'm reading The 7.5 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. Not sure that I like it that much, but still flicking the pages.

Reading Arcadia by Iain Pears, as recommended by @Starkess 

Enjoying it so far.

19 hours ago, Starkess said:

I finished listening to Arcadia by Iain Pears and absolutely loved it. I can tell that it wouldn't appeal to everyone, but it was perfect for me! Next audiobook on deck is Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.

 

I adored his book, "An Instance of the Fingerpost". Will check this one out.

I'm reading "Into A Blood-Red Sky" by my friend, Jo Zebedee. Enjoying it! A post-environmental collapse story set at the not-so-hot edge of Europe.

17 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Pretty dark stuff beneath the witty writing, isn't it?

Oh yes! 

Speaking of wit, I love the way many of the authorities he quotes from are mangled versions of his fellow writers' names. Although, so far, the only two I'm sure of are Frank Herbert and Poul Anderson.

Following @Wilbur's lead, I am reading Vance's Demon Princes books. I've polished off the first two and am now halfway through the third. I have forgotten how much I enjoy his work, although I can't see any of this getting published nowadays.

20 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Time for a new thread, n'est-ce pas?

Mais, oui!

Reading George Monbiot's Regenesis. It's a manifesto about the future of farming. Astonishing and brilliant so far. No, I am not a farmer. No, I have never successfully grown anything. But it has still managed to enthrall me. Recommend reading the sample chapter to see if it's for you.

On 6/9/2022 at 4:03 PM, hauberk said:

I was a little puzzled by the sequencing - started Three Kings and within the first few pages, there is a reference made to Joker Moon, so stopped Three Kings and read Joker Moon first.  They can really be read in either order.

Congratulations, though, on another successful entry into the Wild Cards world.  Will we be seeing future contributions?

Well, when we were writing Three Kings, we knew Joker Moon would be coming and roughly what it would be about, hence the reference!

Thanks  And yes, I have written something else for the WC universe that I'm not allowed to talk about. But I can say that it deals with a whole new set of characters in a brilliant (I didn't come up with it) setting.

Crap, I have not yet read Joker Moon... Thanks for the reminder. I will make it my next read after the current one.

I will agree with those who suggested "Guns of the Dawn", "Dogs of War" and "Cage of Souls". I read all of his books -- especially when I am in a reading slump.