Fourth Quarter 2020 Reading

[Zorral]

15 hours ago, The Marquis de Leech said:

I meant in the sense of Evil People from the Subcontinent versus Good Heroic White People - an ugly side of the Temple of Doom, and an ugly side of The Sign of Four. Again, it's not the sort of thing one associates with Doyle. The Sign of Four was just unexpected like that, though to be fair to Doyle, an 1890 interpretation of the Indian Mutiny - then within living memory - would be rather different from a modern one.

(And to be fair to Rider Haggard, he's pretty OK for his time period too).

Nevertheless, Quatermain, still often cringey.....

Quote

 

Colonial Brit Imperium superiority is on display on nearly every page of Quatermain, with long lectures on what makes an admirable man and the general inferiority of non-whites, unless exceptions out of a warrior 'race' such as the Zulu. 

It’s also broadly accepted that ‘white’ ultimately means British, only. Other Europeans, whether German, French etc.(Alphonse in Allan Quatermain is nothing but a list of ticked off boxes of French coward, fool and ignorance), included to show their inferiority as buffoonish figures of diversion and exploitation, at best, as well as targets of physically brutal abuse, as well as verbal contempt. This mode was eagerly displayed by other adventure genre writers, from Edgar Rice Burroughs, and continued to proliferate within the sf/f fields, including the buffoon as alpha male writer, John Norman and many others, even now. 

What makes Haggard exceptional among many genre adventure writers though, is his inclusion and featuring, women of agency who are strong enough to rescue themselves -- though not even their courage, proven ability and his admiration can stop Quartermain from mansplaining to them what a real woman is, and how to be/come that.  Worse, in Allan Quartermain, the girl child who rescued herself with tremendous courage and presence of mind, the reader is carefully informed that for the rest of her life, she was 'nervous' and subject to great starts and frights...

 

 

[Starkess]

I finished A Deadly Education in just a day. I really loved it!! Can't wait for book 2.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Finished a re-read of Dracula. Better than I remembered it, with some gorgeous landscape descriptions, and truly Hitchcockian suspense. The only real weaknesses are the later hunt for the clay coffins - a bit flat after the excitement of the Lucy episode - and Stoker's bad habit of throwing around 'voluptuous' as a negative descriptor term. Yes, Bram, we get it. Your female vampires are all full of "voluptuous wantonness", because you need to work out your gloriously Victorian issues. It evokes a smile, rather than fear. 

[Teng Ai Hui]

I was really frustrated by The Paper Magician. It started off well. The magic system was very interesting, and I liked the two main characters and their interactions. Then, about a third of the way in, it fell off a cliff. The apprentice fell in love with the mentor. Also, there was a long travelogue, and I despise fictional travelogues. I only finished it because I wanted to complete one more book before the end of the year.

[Plessiez]

On 12/26/2020 at 12:57 PM, Plessiez said:

I'm now about a third of the way into The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart.

Finished this yesterday.  The various POVs actually came together pretty well, I thought, for the most part.  Though it's definitely the first book of a series and there are a few things left unresolved in this volume.

Shorefall next.

[Ormond]

I recently finished The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, a novel published in 1850 which is often now considered his best work. It was a bit verbose by modern standards but had some great characterization. I would agree that the character Marian Halcombe is one of the most interesting heroines in English literature. One really wonders why the hero is in love with her insipid younger sister instead of her -- that's explained by her being physically ugly, but I think the novel still presents all men as being rather shallow in their tastes.  It was frustrating when Marian described herself non-ironically more than once as "just a weak woman" when she was anything but.

I've now just started Prince of Dogs, the second book in Kate Elliott's "Crown of Stars" fantasy series. 

[Starkess]

6 hours ago, Teng Ai Hui said:

I was really frustrated by The Paper Magician. It started off well. The magic system was very interesting, and I liked the two main characters and their interactions. Then, about a third of the way in, it fell off a cliff. The apprentice fell in love with the mentor. Also, there was a long travelogue, and I despise fictional travelogues. I only finished it because I wanted to complete one more book before the end of the year.

I had the same complaint, and IIRC I found the sequels to be even worse.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Given the recent discussion of Rider Haggard, I've just finished a re-read of King Solomon's Mines, my first since childhood. Looking at it now... let's just say that it is not the sort of text that would be produced in 2020, but by the standards of 1885? Our narrator explicitly says he doesn't like the term 'nigger', and inter-racial romance is even a plot point. Ignosi verbally slaps down greedy whites at the end, and non-whites (and white non-Britons) are shown as brave and intelligent throughout. The frozen body of Ventvögel is placed next to that of the long-dead Portugese man, implying equality. For a work written at the height of British colonialism, it comes across pretty well. The bigger values dissonance is probably the elephant hunting. 

[TheLastWolf]

Just reading Stephen Hawking's last book, Brief Answers to the Big Questions 

Spoiler

Origin of life and universe, predicting future, god, time travel, aliens, space colonization etc. Good one 

 

[Inkdaub]

I read Ward's Legacy of Ash and it was alright with some really good moments/ideas.  

I could not get into Bardugo's Ninth House so I have put it down for the moment.  I'm sure I'll try again at some point.  I think I am still in a hangover from my West re-read.  Whatever the case I am having trouble choosing anything. 

I am about a quarter way through Connelly's Fair Warning so I guess I'll just keep going. 

[Teng Ai Hui]

On ‎12‎/‎29‎/‎2020 at 1:10 AM, Starkess said:

I had the same complaint, and IIRC I found the sequels to be even worse.

That's disappointing because I was wanting to learn more about the universe's magic system. I'm now noticing that the sequels have a lot of negative comments on goodreads.

I have started reading T. Kingfisher's The Twisted Ones.  It seems very promising so far.

[Peadar]

I'm about to start Christian Cameron's The New Achilles. 

[Plessiez]

I didn't like Shorefall as much as Foundryside.  Honestly, I'm not sure I liked it at all, though I'd probably need a bit of time to properly work out why. 

The plot moves along at a frenetic pace and there are some fun set pieces, but the central antagonists aren't especially interesting and the wider world seems even smaller and less developed in this volume than it did in the first.  Just didn't work for me the way the previous book did.

[williamjm]

I finished V.E. Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. I thought it was a good book although I took a while to really get into it. I'm not sure that's entirely the book's fault but maybe because some of the early chapters gave me a bit of deja vu since one key part of the premise - a young woman who is immediately forgotten by everyone she meets once she is out of their sight - is very reminiscent of Claire North's The Sudden Appearance of Hope which I read a couple of years ago. However this feeling did fade as the book went along because other than the basic premise and some of the details of how Addie/Hope try to live in a world that doesn't remember them the two stories go in very different directions.

I think the flashback chapters as Addie tells the story of her very long life from 18th Century France through to the modern day were the highlight of the book and I thought it was good at both showing how her character changes over the years and how some parts of her character never really change. I'm a bit less enamoured of Henry, the other protagonist, who didn't feel as interesting a character. The modern-day (well, 2014 which seems like a really long time ago now) parts of the story were not initially as compelling as the flahsbacks but I thought the storyline did finish strongly.

I think I'll read S.A. Chakraborty's The City of Brass next, it seems to be a series which has a number of fans on here.

[Derfel Cadarn]

 

Edit: for some reason, after hte Troubled Blood spoilers, the rest of my post is spoilered too!

Not updated this in months!

Troubled Blood, by Robert Galbraith (JKR): It was pretty good, very long though. I was conscious of the controversy surrounding this book given the author's views. I'll spoiler my thoughts:

 

The accusations of transphobia in this book largely come about due to a convicted serial killer having disguised himself as a woman. There's not much else there, it's essentially a disguise for that character. However, he is described as being 'effeminate' and having pretended to be a woman during karaoke, so I wonder if the author was either writing him as 'gay', or essentially writing him as transgender, but basically saying 'it doesn't exist', sort of 'cancelling' it in the novel. Not sure.

Where JKR is much more overt in her politics is to do with feminism, particularly her criticism of 4th wave (I think), i.e the view that women should be free to do what they want, including porn etc. She argues her opposition to this indirectly; the two characters in favour of things like 'slut walks' ie women marching in their underwear in protest against sex crime, are portrayed unsympathetically. Both are very young (late teens or early twenties), naive, rude to their host (dumping baggage on the couch). Interestingly, Robin says little about it, being more pissed at her rape being brought up, and Strike being a drunken arse.  Also interestingly, it is two men doing most of the arguing, Strike opposing 'slut walks' etc, and the young guy defending them. Essentially a swipe at 'mansplaining'.  

At first it appears JKR is trying to be balanced; she has Robin say she's sort of in favour of 'slut walks only for a drunk Strike to say she was only saying that. But later, Robin decides (to her annoyance) that Strike was probably right.

 

I've more recently finished Erikson's Fall of Light. A very big book with not much happening. Meh. Esslemont's Dancer's Lament is much tighter. 

Also currently reading The Eye Collectors, by Simon Kewin. It's set 'now', basically about modern Witchfinders (a government branch charged to look out for magic, demons etc). Pretty good so far. Outwith the UK, it may be pricier to get hold of the paperback, as it's published by independent publisher Elsewhen Press. (who publish my books). 

Also read the recent Abercrombie, which was very good. Finished reading the James Oswald supernatural detective Inspector MacLean books, which are good.

Also read the last two Bernard Cornwall Uhtred novels. The penultimate one was pretty forgettable. The last one started off interesting, with Uhtred being courted by all sides.

 

ended ok, was a bit abrupt. At least he lived; to kill him would have caused a continuity error with an early book where we hear from an old and decrepit Uhtred.

 

[The Marquis de Leech]

Completed reads for 2020. Note that the list is a bit padded by all the short medieval Welsh poetry (about a third of the list):
 

1. The History of the Britons, by Nennius
2. The Annales Cambriae
3. The Life of King Alfred, by Asser
4. The Wood Beyond the World, by William Morris
5. The Life of Merlin, by Geoffrey of Monmouth
6. The History of the Kings of Britain, by Geoffrey of Monmouth
7. The Life of Gildas, by Caradoc of Llancarfan
8. The Life of Gildas, by a Monk of Rhuys
9. The Well at the World’s End (2 vols.), by William Morris
10. John Carter of Mars, by E.R. Burroughs
11. The Nicomachean Ethics, by Aristotle
12. Is Shakespeare Dead?, by Mark Twain
13. The Jew of Malta, by Christopher Marlowe
14. Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe
15. Dido, Queen of Carthage, by Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Nashe
16. The Massacre at Paris, by Christopher Marlowe
17. Lust’s Dominion, by Thomas Dekker
18. The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, by Christopher Marlowe
19. The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd, by Walter Raleigh
20. Raleigh Was Right, by William Carlos Williams
21. Hero and Leander, by Christopher Marlowe and George Chapman
22. The King of the Golden River, by John Ruskin
23. The Complete Poems and Translations, by Christopher Marlowe and Others
24. Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?, by James Shapiro
25. A Counterblaste to Tobacco, by King James I of England and VI of Scotland
26. Christopher Marlowe: A Biography, by A.L. Rowse
27. Fey Folk: A Tale from Skiathos, by Alexandros Papadiamandis
28. Shakespeare: A Life, by Park Honan
29. Politics, and the Athenian Constitution, by Aristotle
30. The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun, by J.R.R. Tolkien
31. Was Lord Bacon the Author of Shakespeare’s Plays?, by William Henry Smith
32. An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, by William Wilkinson
33. Judgement Night: A Selection of Science Fiction, by C.L. Moore
34. Three Jacobean Tragedies, edited by Gamini Salgado
35. Shakespeare Bites Back: Not So Anonymous, by Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells
36. Jacobean Tragedies, edited by A.H. Gomme
37. The Metaphysics, by Aristotle
38. Existentialism and Humanism, by Jean-Paul Sartre
39. The Cosmic Doctrine, by Dion Fortune
40. Theurgia, or the Egyptian Mysteries, by Iamblichus
41. Dracul, by Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker
42. The Life of Pythagoras, by Porphyry
43. On the Faculties of the Soul, by Porphyry
44. The Masque of the Red Death, by Edgar Allan Poe
45. The Isle of the Torturers, by Clark Ashton Smith
46. Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. First Among Sequels, by Jasper Fforde
48. Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones
49. Castle in the Air, by Diana Wynne Jones
50. House of Many Ways, by Diana Wynne Jones
51. Gon, by Masashi Tanaka
52. Red Moon, by Sein Ares
53. The Plague, by Albert Camus
54. The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones
55. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
56. Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll
57. The Hunting of the Snark, by Lewis Carroll
58. A Journal of the Plague Year, by Daniel Defoe
59. The Golden Verses of Pythagoras
60. On Sacrifice, by Apollonius of Tyana
61. The Life of Pythagoras, by Iamblichus
62. The Theology of Arithmetic, by Iamblichus
63. Letter to Menoeceus, by Epicurus
64. Principal Doctrines, by Epicurus
65. Letter to Pythocles, by Epicurus
66. Letter to Herodotus, by Epicurus
67. Vatican Sayings, by Epicurus
68. The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer
69. The Tale of Melibee, by Geoffrey Chaucer
70. The Parson’s Tale, by Geoffrey Chaucer
71. On the Soul, by Aristotle
72. The Categories, by Aristotle
73. On Interpretation, by Aristotle
74. Prior Analytics, by Aristotle
75. The Sand-Reckoner, by Archimedes
76. Fragments that Remain of the Lost Writings of Proclus
77. Posterior Analytics, by Aristotle
78. On Images, by Porphyry
79. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
80. Topics, by Aristotle
81. On Sophistical Refutations, by Aristotle
82. Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson
83. Physics, by Aristotle
84. On the Heavens, by Aristotle
85. The Hymns of Orpheus
86. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
87. The Secret History, by Procopius
88. The Enneads, by Plotinus
89. Fragments of Heraclitus
90. The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams
91. Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne
92. The House at Pooh Corner, by A.A. Milne
93. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum
94. Atlantis, the Antediluvian World, by Ignatius Donnelly
95. The Lost Lemuria, by W. Scott-Elliot
96. The Story of Atlantis, by W. Scott-Elliot
97. The Submerged Continents of Atlantis and Lemuria, by Rudolf Steiner
98. Das Rheingold [libretto], by Richard Wagner
99. Die Walküre [libretto], by Richard Wagner
100. New Atlantis, by Sir Francis Bacon
101. Siegfried [libretto], by Richard Wagner
102. Götterdämmerung [libretto], by Richard Wagner
103. Mr. Bliss, by J.R.R. Tolkien
104. Farmer Giles of Ham, by J.R.R. Tolkien
105. Leaf By Niggle, by J.R.R. Tolkien
106. Roverandom, by J.R.R. Tolkien
107. Smith of Wootton Major, by J.R.R. Tolkien
108. Letters from Father Christmas, by J.R.R. Tolkien
109. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, by J.R.R. Tolkien
110. Children of Earth and Sky, by Guy Gavriel Kay
111. She, by H. Rider Haggard
112. The Book of Nonsense, by Edward Lear
113. Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets, by Edward Lear
114. More Nonsense, by Edward Lear
115. Laughable Lyrics, by Edward Lear
116. Screwtape Proposes a Toast, by C.S. Lewis
117. Grimms’ Fairy Tales, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
118. Essay on the Coinage of Money, by Nicolaus Copernicus
119. Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D.H. Lawrence
120. Selected Poetry, by Lord Byron
121. Poems, by Robert Burns
122. The Saga of Gunnlaug Snake-Tongue, by Anonymous
123. The Tale of Scald-Helgi, by Anonymous
124. The Saga of Hallfred, by Anonymous
125. The Tale of Thorvald Tassle, by Anonymous
126. The Saga of Hord and the Holm-Dwellers, by Anonymous
127. The Saga of Havard the Halt, by Anonymous
128. The Saga of Hen-Thorir, by Anonymous
129. The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal, by Anonymous
130. Bolli Bollason’s Tale, by Anonymous
131. The Saga of Hrafnkel Frey’s Godi, by Anonymous
132. The Saga of the Confederates, by Anonymous
133. The Saga of Ref the Sly, by Anonymous
134. The Battle of Maldon, by Anonymous
135. The Saga of the Greenlanders, by Anonymous
136. Eirik the Red’s Saga, by Anonymous
137. The Tale of Thorstein Staff-Struck, by Anonymous
138. The Tale of Halldor Snorrason II, by Anonymous
139. The Tale of Sarcastic Halli, by Anonymous
140. The Tale of Thorstein Shiver, by Anonymous
141. The Tale of Audun from the West Fjords, by Anonymous
142. The Tale of the Storywise Icelander, by Anonymous
143. The Saga of the Ere-Dwellers (Eyrbyggja saga), by Anonymous
144. A Pickle for the Knowing Ones, by Timothy Dexter
145. Mispogon, by Emperor Julian the Apostate
146. On the Mortality (or Plague), by Cyprian of Carthage
147. The Origin and Deeds of the Goths, by Jordanes
148. The Book of Gomorrah, by Peter Damian
149. The Poem of the Cid, by Anonymous
150. The Song of Roland, by Turold
151. The Death of Aoife’s Only Son (two versions), by Anonymous
152. The Pursuit of Gruaidh Ghriansholus, by Anonymous
153. Cuchulainn and Senbecc, Grandson of Ebrecc (two versions), by Anonymous
154. The Sick-bed of Cuchulain, and the Only Jealousy of Emer, by Anonymous
155. The Story of Mac Datho’s Pig (two versions), by Anonymous
156. The Cattle-Raid of Fraech, by Anonymous
157. The Raid for the Cattle of Regamon, by Anonymous
158. The Raid for Dartaid’s Cattle, by Anonymous
159. The Driving of the Cattle of Flidais, by Anonymous
160. The Cattle-Raid of Regamna, by Anonymous
161. The Intoxication of the Ulstermen, by Anonymous
162. The Exile of the Sons of Usnech (two versions), by Anonymous
163. The Cause of the Exile of Fergus Mac Roig, by Anonymous
164. The Courtship of Ferb (two versions), by Anonymous
165. The Battle of Ross na Ríg, by Anonymous
166. The Battle of Findchorad, by Anonymous
167. The Violent Deaths of Goll and Garb, by Anonymous
168. The Feast of Bricriu, by Anonymous
169. The Wooing of Treblann, by Anonymous
170. Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle-Raid of Cooley) (two versions), by Anonymous
171. The Death of Curoi Mac Dari (four versions), by Anonymous
172. The Colloquy of the Two Sages, by Anonymous
173. The Tragic Death of Celtchar mac Uthechair, by Anonymous
174. The Death of Lóegaire Buadach, by Anonymous
175. The Death of Cu Chulainn, by Anonymous
176. The Great Defeat on the Plain of Muirthemne before Cuchulainn’s Death, by Anonymous
177. The Death of Conchobar (four versions), by Anonymous
178. The Battle of Airtech, by Anonymous
179. The Death of Cet Mac Magach, by Anonymous
180. The Death of Fergus Mac Róich, by Anonymous
181. The Deaths of Ailill and of Conall Cernach, by Anonymous
182. The Violent Death of Medb, by Anonymous
183. The Phantom Chariot of Cu Chulainn, by Anonymous
184. The Genealogy of Cu Chulainn, by Anonymous
185. The War of Fergus and Conchobar, by Anonymous
186. The Hostel of Da Choca, by Anonymous
187. The Siege of Howth, by Anonymous
188. Deirdre, by Anonymous
189. The Lament of Deirdre, by Anonymous
190. Medb Enjoined Illegal Contracts, by Anonymous
191. The Death of Conchobar’s Sons, by Anonymous
192. The Saga of Fergus mac Léti, by Anonymous
193. The Death of Fergus mac Leide, by Anonymous
194. The Martial Career of Conghal Cláiringhneach, by Anonymous
195. The Cause of the Battle of Cnucha, by Anonymous
196. The Boyhood Deeds of Finn mac Cumhaill, by Anonymous
197. Two Tales about Finn, by Anonymous
198. Finn and the Man in the Tree, by Anonymous
199. The Enumeration of Finn’s People, by Anonymous
200. The Little Brawl at Almhain, by Anonymous
201. Finn and the Phantoms, by Anonymous
202. The Enchanted Cave of Keshcorran, by Anonymous
203. The Carle of the Drab Coat, by Anonymous
204. The Pursuit of the Gilla Decair and His Horse, by Anonymous
205. The Feast at Conan’s House, by Anonymous
206. Finn and Grainne, by Anonymous
207. The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne, by Anonymous
208. The Hiding of the Hill of Howth, by Anonymous
209. The Battle of Gabhra, by Anonymous
210. The Battle of Ventry, by Anonymous
211. The Chase of Sid na mBan Finn and the Death of Finn, by Anonymous
212. Cormac’s Panegyric and Finn’s Death, by Anonymous
213. The Lay of Oisín in the Land of Youth, by Micheál Coimín
214. The Colloquy with the Ancients, by Anonymous
215. Tales of Mongan, by Anonymous
216. The Mabinogion, by Anonymous
217. The Tale of Taliesin, by Elis Gruffydd
218. The Spoils of Annwn, by Anonymous
219. Encomium of Helen, by Gorgias
220. The Defence of Palamedes, by Gorgias
221. Arthur and the Porter, by Anonymous
222. Geraint son of Erbin, by Anonymous
223. The Battle of the Trees, by Anonymous
224. The Welsh Triads (6 versions), by Anonymous
225. The Stanzas of the Graves, by Anonymous
226. The Dialogue of Myrddin and Taliesin, by Anonymous
227. The Dialogue of Taliesin and Ugnach, by Anonymous
228. The Praise of Tenby, by Anonymous
229. The First Address of Taliesin, by Anonymous
230. The Elegy of the Thousand Sons, by Anonymous
231. The Fold of the Bards, by Anonymous
232. The Pleasant Things of Taliesin, by Anonymous
233. Oh God, the God of Formation, by Anonymous
234. The Prophecy of Prydein the Great, by Anonymous
235. The Hostile Confederacy, by Anonymous
236. Juvenile Ornaments of Taliesin, by Anonymous
237. Daronwy, by Anonymous
238. Song on Lleenawg, by Anonymous
239. The Praise of Taliesin, by Anonymous
240. The Chair of Taliesin, by Anonymous
241. Song Before the Sons of Llyr, by Anonymous
242. The Chair of the Sovereign, by Anonymous
243. The Chair of Cerridwen, by Anonymous
244. Song of the Wind, by Anonymous
245. A Rumour Has Come, by Anonymous
246. Song to Mead, by Anonymous
247. Song to Ale, by Anonymous
248. The Plagues of Egypt, by Anonymous
249. The Satire on Cynan Garwyn, by Anonymous
250. The Rod of Moses, by Anonymous
251. The Song of the Horses, by Anonymous
252. The Contrived World, by Anonymous
253. On the Face of the Earth, by Anonymous
254. Alexander the Great, by Anonymous
255. God the Possessor, by Anonymous
256. The Battle of Gwenystrad, by Anonymous
257. A Song for Urien Rheged (4 versions), by Anonymous
258. The Affair of Argoed Llwyfain, by Anonymous
259. The Spoils of Taliesin, by Anonymous
260. A Song on Gwallawg ab Lleenawg, by Anonymous
261. The Satisfaction of Urien, by Anonymous
262. The Death Song of Erof, by Anonymous
263. The Death Song of Madawg, by Anonymous
264. The Death Song of Corroi, by Anonymous
265. The Death Song of Dylan, by Anonymous
266. The Death Song of Owain, by Anonymous
267. The Death Song of Aeddon, by Anonymous
268. The Death Song of Cunedda, by Anonymous
269. The Lesser Prophecy of Britain, by Anonymous
270. The Death Song of Uther Pendragon, by Anonymous
271. A Bright Festivity, by Anonymous
272. May God Exalt, by Anonymous
273. The Eternal Trinity, by Anonymous
274. The Praise of Lludd the Great, by Anonymous
275. Truly There Will Be to Me a Roman Friend, by Anoymous
276. The Reconciliation of Lludd the Lesser, by Anonymous
277. A Song to the Great World, by Anonymous
278. A Song to the Little World, by Anonymous
279. The Prediction of Kadwaladr, by Anonymous
280. The Dialogue of Taliesin and Aneirin, by Anonymous
281. The Quarrel of Rhun and Elidir Mwynfawr (The Privileges of Arvon), by Anonymous
282. The Gododdin, by Anonymous
283. The Gwarchan of Tudvwlch, by Anonymous
284. The Gwarchan of Adebon, by Anonymous
285. The Gwarchan of Cynfelyn, by Anonymous
286. The Gwarchan of Maelderw, by Anonymous
287. The Second Gododdin, by Anonymous
288. Songs for the Philologists, by J.R.R. Tolkien, E.V. Gordon, and Others
289. Meigant, by Anonymous
290. God Supreme, by Anonymous
291. The Ode of Cyridwen, by Anonymous
292. A Skilful Composition, by Anonymous
293. Soul, Since I Was Made, by Anonymous
294. Let Us Not Reproach, by Anonymous
295. Let God Be Praised, by Anonymous
296. Hail, Glorious Lord, by Anonymous
297. I Will Extol Thee, by Anonymous
298. In the Name of the Lord, by Anonymous
299. There is a Graciously Disposed King, by Anonymous
300. Dinas Maon, by Anonymous
301. The Birch Trees, by Anonymous
302. The Apple Trees, by Anonymous
303. Listen, Piglet, by Anonymous
304. The Cynghogion of Elaeth, by Anonymous
305. Not To Call Upon God, by Anonymous
306. As Long As We Sojourn, by Anonymous
307. The First Song of Yscolan, by Anonymous
308. The Second Song of Yscolan, by Anonymous
309. A Blessing To the Happy Youth, by Anonymous
310. Keen is the Gale, by Anonymous
311. The Dialogue of Gwyddno Garanhir and Gwyn ap Nudd, by Anonymous
312. Though I Love the Sea-Shore, by Anonymous
313. Seithenhin, by Anonymous
314. The Names of the Sons of Llywarch Hen, by Anonymous
315. Nutcracker, by E.T.A. Hoffmann
316. The Mask of Anarchy, by Percy Bysshe Shelley
317. Fire and Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones
318. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
319. Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie
320. A Study in Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
321. The Sign of Four, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
322. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
323. King Solomon’s Mines, by H. Rider Haggard
324. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
325. The Thirty-Nine Steps, by John Buchan
326. The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

[Mexal]

On 12/30/2020 at 9:38 AM, Plessiez said:

I didn't like Shorefall as much as Foundryside.  Honestly, I'm not sure I liked it at all, though I'd probably need a bit of time to properly work out why. 

The plot moves along at a frenetic pace and there are some fun set pieces, but the central antagonists aren't especially interesting and the wider world seems even smaller and less developed in this volume than it did in the first.  Just didn't work for me the way the previous book did.

I felt similar

[Starkess]

I finished listening to Cinder yesterday. Fun and a cool premise, though it felt a bit shoe-horned (ie the Cinderella aspect) and most of the big "reveals" were ridiculously telegraphed and obvious. Definitely will continue on with this series.

I expect that will be the last book I finish for 2020, so that put me at 52 books for the year, well ahead of my 40 book goal and smashing my 2019 36. This was my first full year of adding audiobooks to my runs, and it really helps me get through a few more.

My favorites this year were The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold, The Power by Naomi Alderman, and A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. I think my least favorite (of books I completed) was Finale by Stephanie Garber. My DNFs were Light from Other Stars by Erika Swyler and The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.

[Plessiez]

On 12/31/2020 at 2:13 PM, The Marquis de Leech said:

Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones

I read this myself last night, after I decided to try something a bit lighter than the first few chapters of The Ministry of the Future.  Possibly I reread it: I believe that I read at least a couple of Diana Wynne Jones' books when I was eleven or twelve, but I can't remember which ones. 

If I had read it before, any memory I'd retained of the plot had been pretty thoroughly overwritten by the Studio Ghibli film.

Spoiler

And so I found the reveal that "Wizard Howl" was actually a man from modern(ish?) Wales called Howell to be pretty surprising: not so much for the twist itself as for the very matter-of-fact way in which all the characters react.

If I did read it when I was younger, I wonder if I found that twist equally surprising then or whether it's only lots of exposure to other secondary-world fantasy that has conditioned me to think that this is somehow breaking the rules.

On 12/31/2020 at 4:46 PM, Mexal said:

On 12/30/2020 at 2:38 PM, Plessiez said:

I didn't like Shorefall as much as Foundryside.  Honestly, I'm not sure I liked it at all

I felt similar

Well, at least I'm not the only one...

Actually, looking back I see that a couple of people in previous versions of this thread were also disappointed by Shorefall, but we definitely seem to be in the minority.

22 hours ago, Starkess said:

My DNFs were Light from Other Stars by Erika Swyler and The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.

Does failing to finish a book mean you didn't like it, or was there some other issue?  I probably abandoned about a dozen books in 2020, but I'm hoping to make a second attempt at most of them this year.

(Mostly asking because Light from Other Stars was on my tentative list of books to read in 2021.)

[Starkess]

6 hours ago, Plessiez said:

Does failing to finish a book mean you didn't like it, or was there some other issue?  I probably abandoned about a dozen books in 2020, but I'm hoping to make a second attempt at most of them this year.

(Mostly asking because Light from Other Stars was on my tentative list of books to read in 2021.)

Yep usually it means that I just couldn't get into it enough to bother finishing it. Sometimes it's just a matter of not clicking, sometimes it's a more active dislike. Unfortunately in this case, it was a bit more active dislike for Light from Other Stars. It sounded like it should be cool and instead I was bored as hell. I checked the reviews later and a lot of the positive ones were the "I never read sci-fi but this was amazing"--ie, it kind of reads more like literary fiction than sci fi, at least in the parts I read. I made it about 25% in and learned way more about the MC's parents' strained marriage than anything else.

But mine is just one opinion, so don't let me put you off it!