September 2016 Reads

[Andorion]

9 hours ago, Starkess said:

I think Cyteen is one of my favorites, and it's essentially a standalone (it is set in the Alliance-Union universe, and there was a sequel but it was written almost 2 decades after and I don't think is necessary to enjoy the first book). I can't remember how much it might spoil of other A-U books, though. Plessiez is right that Downbelow Station is a good starter for A-U. Most of the A-U books are only loosely connected and so you can really just jump in with any one that grabs you. I think I read either Forty Thousand in Gehenna or Downbelow Station first? Long time ago!

For the Foreigner universe, those books are actually written in chronological order following a single character, so it's best just to start at the beginning with Foreigner. While there are a lot of books in the series, they are intended to work as individual trilogies, so I'd recommend just reading 1-3 to start so you don't get fatigued or intimidated by a 12+ book series.

Haven't read her Chanur stuff yet so can't say for that. But I definitely recommend Cherryh, she is one of my favorite authors in the field.

Thank you! I am shortlisting Cyteen and Downbelow Station then. Cherryh has been on my radar as big-authors-to-read along with Bakker and Janny Wurts. 

Am I correct in assuming that Alliance Union, Chanur and Foreigner are her big sci-fi works and Merovingen Nights and Fortress in the Eye of Time are fantasy works?

[David Selig]

Cyteen contains spoilers about quite a bit of Downbelow Station's plot (basically the whole political part of the plot on a macro level), but it is IMO clearly the better novel. On the other hand, Cyteen is much longer, so Downbelow Station is probably a better start

[Darth Richard II]

I haven't read Bag of Bones since it came out but I remember I had the same reaction. One of the stories in Full Dark, No Stars has a similar issue.

[Darth Richard II]

Yeah. Full Dark I read only a month or so again and just...goddamn. 

[The Marquis de Leech]

Finished The Winter Place, by Alexander Yates. It's taken me nearly three weeks to read this thing, which shouldn't be taken as an indictment on the book, but is rather a reflection of other stuff going on my life. It's also a pretty meaty book for something categorised as YA, and I'm still chewing on the ending, which for a bizarre moment there appeared to be taking its cue from The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis.

Next up is The Winter War, by Philip Teir.

[Winterfella]

Just finished The Call, which I purchased and read totally based on all the recommendations from this thread.  It is exactly the kind of book I needed to get me out of the reading funk I was in.  The recs in this thread are not wrong.  It is a very fun, intense read.  Also, for someone who has been a mostly lurker, infrequent poster, but around this board for probably 15 years, it was cool to read something from a fellow board member.  Very much looking forward to the second book.  Nicely done, Peadar.

[Lily Valley]

23 hours ago, LongRider said:

I read Debt, it was very interesting  and accessible I thought.

This author got off on the wrong foot with me during his intro.  He recounts being at a party and nearly boring a woman to death.

Quote

At one point, Father Graeme intervened, saying that there was someone...Whom I would certainly want to meet.  She turned out to be a trim, well-apointed young woman, who he explained, was an attorney-'but more of the activist kind.  She works for a foundation that provides legal support for anti-poverty groups in London.  You'll probably have lots to talk about."

Well our AUTHOR has a lot to talk about.  He tells us that after the introduction to this "trim and well-appointed young woman", it turned out that she doesn't know much about his line of work.   He immediately begins to remedy this appalling ignorance by regurgitating thirty years of history about the International Monetary Fund.  He continues until she is rescued by a drunk.

It does pick up after this, but I wouldn't invite him to dinner.

[Astromech]

Victor Pelevin's The Sacred Book of the Werewolf was an interesting read. A love story between a werewolf and werefox used as a basis to discuss so much more.

[Garett Hornwood]

Last Tuesday night I finished Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre and thought it was a good book overall on the WWII history of the SAS.  Last Wednesday I completed Patriarchs and Prophets by Ellen White, I started this in April as a personal read on my days off.  I started Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins to complete The Hunger Games trilogy and finished it yesterday.

Yesterday I started a reread of Thomas Cahill's The Gift of the Jews, the second book of his Hinges of History series in which How the Irish Saved Civilization was the first.

[Peadar]

16 hours ago, Winterfella said:

Just finished The Call, which I purchased and read totally based on all the recommendations from this thread.  It is exactly the kind of book I needed to get me out of the reading funk I was in.  The recs in this thread are not wrong.  It is a very fun, intense read.  Also, for someone who has been a mostly lurker, infrequent poster, but around this board for probably 15 years, it was cool to read something from a fellow board member.  Very much looking forward to the second book.  Nicely done, Peadar.

Thanks, Winterfella! You've been on the board 5 years longer than me, then  So glad you enjoyed the book. I'm doing some work on the sequel (and final volume) today.

As for me, I adored the opening of The Obelisk Gate. So far, this really is as good as the first one, but still only 15% through... Personal matters (mostly good) have slowed down my reading enormously...

[Joe Pesci]

Started the Frostborn series by Jonathan Moeller, the first three books and a prequel story as an omnibus were on Amazon for 99 cents so figured I'd give it a try. Hadn't heard a thing about the series, but not bad so far.

Also read Treasure Island as it was free. Don't think I've read that since grade school, and it's still an enjoyable read.

[Durckad]

Well, guess I'm reading The Call next. As if I didn't have enough to read already.

Thanks a lot you fuckers helpful and friendly people you!

[Andorion]

Finished A Natural History of Dragons: The Memoirs of Lady Trent by Marie Brennan. Interesting idea, ok execution, botched last chapter. 

Reading Saladin Ahmed's Throne of the Crescent Moon and really liking it so far. 

[ljkeane]

In the last week or so I've read NK Jemisin's The Fifth Season which was very good, I can't really remember why I didn't like The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms but what ever it was certainly wasn't an issue with this book. Perhaps it's because I'd read a bit of the conservatism in fantasy thread before I read the book so I was over reading into things but it did feel at times like there was a bit of box ticking with regards to having a diverse cast of characters but it didn't have any detrimental effect on the story so what does it matter? I'll have to read The Obelisk Gate sooner rather than later.

After that I read Peadar's The Call because it seems to be very popular at the moment. As advertised it was an excellent, if somewhat grim, read.

[Lily Valley]

On 9/18/2016 at 7:40 AM, Lyanna Stark said:

 

 

Regarding the Ancillary debate, we shall just have to see how I feel! Ancillary Mercy and Ancillary Sword should arrive next week.

I'm super excited for you.  Please come back and break the tie.  I think it's a matter of taste.  If you like the novelty of exposition, you may agree with brunhilda.  To me it's the difference between the excitement and work of a first date and relaxed enjoyment of eating pizza on the sofa with your SO.  Both are awesome.

I have a package waiting for me at the Tavern.  I hope it's Death's End!!

 

[polishgenius]

I read a book called Koko Takes a Holiday. It promise fairly mindless OTT action fun, and it kinda delivered, but it also spent a substantial amount of time taking the piss out of suicides and telling us that depression is just imagination and can be cured by just living life to the full, so overall I found it genuinely offensive and would suggest to anyone who's ever considered it to avoid it like the plague.

[HexMachina]

4 hours ago, ljkeane said:

In the last week or so I've read NK Jemisin's The Fifth Season which was very good, I can't really remember why I didn't like The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms but what ever it was certainly wasn't an issue with this book. Perhaps it's because I'd read a bit of the conservatism in fantasy thread before I read the book so I was over reading into things but it did feel at times like there was a bit of box ticking with regards to having a diverse cast of characters but it didn't have any detrimental effect on the story so what does it matter? I'll have to read The Obelisk Gate sooner rather than later.

After that I read Peadar's The Call because it seems to be very popular at the moment. As advertised it was an excellent, if somewhat grim, read.

While I've not read anything else by Jemisin myself, most on this board seem to consider The Fifth Season far better than her other work, so you aren't alone in that regard.

I actually thought Jemisin rather seamlessly incorporated a diversity of characters into the novel. But then I read The Traitor not long afterwards so it was quite the contrast  

[Iskaral Pust]

58 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

I read a book called Koko Takes a Holiday. It promise fairly mindless OTT action fun, and it kinda delivered, but it also spent a substantial amount of time taking the piss out of suicides and telling us that depression is just imagination and can be cured by just living life to the full, so overall I found it genuinely offensive and would suggest to anyone who's ever considered it to avoid it like the plague.

I should recommend this book to my friend's wife who has devoted her life to suicide grief counseling after her brother's suicide in her teens.  I can almost imagine the explosion.

[beniowa]

I finished Everfair by Nisi Shawl.  This book is an intriguing alternative history/steampunk crossover that looks at how history might have been different for the Belgian Congo if certain technologies like airships and mechanical limbs might have been available.  The short chapters and time jumps make the novel read like a series of vignettes, short snapshots in time instead of a more straight-forward narrative so it's a little hard to get attached to the characters.  Still, I thought it was a fascinating what-if story and worth reading.

Now reading Cixin Liu's Death's End. 

[Mudguard]

I'm also reading Death's End.  I really enjoyed the first two books, so I have high hopes for this one.  If I have one criticism of the books, it's the characterization, which I feel is somewhat lacking.  But the books present so many really interesting ideas that it more than makes up for it.