What Are You Reading? 2024 Quarter 1!

[polishgenius]

Yeah, that's fair. Although I think it's fair to say that they are different templates to HoD and many of the stories it inspires, too.

[Iskaral Pust]

Got Trouble by Dave Dobson is, I guess, a sci-if thriller novel, whose rating in GoodReads seems inflated by a large % of ARCs.  The protagonist is a woman struggling through life at the very bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, when she is suddenly thrust into a sci-fi crime plot, with a helpful college professor sidekick to explain to her what’s happening as it unfolds.  I wouldn’t recommend.

Stigmata by Colin Falconer is historical fiction set in 13th century France at the time of the Cathar Crusade.  This is my second experience with this author who has been heavily promoted on Amazon, after enjoying his Silk Road novel — for which I posted a quick review in one of these threads.  I didn’t much enjoy this one.  It doubled down on the weak points of the other novel: it’s primarily an interpersonal/romance melodrama set against the backdrop of an interesting historical period, and spends much more focus on the dime-a-dozen character drama than the history.  If you care more about Scarlet O’Hara than the American Civil War then you might enjoy this author but I’m not inclined to read any further.

Son Of Mercia by M.J. Porter is historical fiction set in 9th century England as Saxon and Danish kingdoms maneuver and compete.  The style is a disappointment: almost every chapter is an internal monologue as a POV engages in and reflects upon a conversation with another king or warband leader as they try to persuade allies and gather military support.  It just goes on and on like this.  I thought it was a poor choice of narrative structure.

[Iskaral Pust]

Odin’s Betrayal by Donovan Cook is the opening book in a series of Viking historical fiction, with the central character born in Francia/Germnay to a Viking father abandoned there during a raid.  The prose and characterization felt sophomoric — bland and tropey.  I won’t read further.

The Boyfriend by Thomas Perry is a crime fiction about an ex-cop PI in California on the track of a serial killer who’s using his girlfriend victims as a series of temporary covers for his work as an assassin around the country.  Far-fetched plot but an OK read.

An Elegant Defense by Matt Richtel is a non-fiction about the human immune system.  It’s an interesting topic and well researched but, like too many non-fictions, it’s torturously over-extended to book length.  Would have been a good long-form article instead.

[Teng Ai Hui]

On 2/4/2024 at 9:48 PM, Underfoot said:

Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree ... 

was fine, but not as cozy/satisfying as Legends and Lattes, and felt a little unnecessary. 

I just finished this one and had the same opinion.  It was good but not as good as the original.  I'm glad Baldree stated in the acknowledgements that he didn't initially plan to write a sequel when he started to write his second book.

Next, I plan to read Sourdough by Robin Sloan.

[ljkeane]

Since the last time I posted in this thread I've read:

Son of Anger by Donovan Cook. It was a bit of a mixed bag. There were some decent elements to it but the writing was fairly clunky. It was one of his earlier books so I was on the fence about trying another one to see if the writing improves but I see Isk has a less than positive review of another of his books so I'll probably leave it.

Kevin Wignall's Those Who Disappeared. After not liking the previous book of his I read because the protagonist was a bit too dislikeable I enjoyed this one. The main character skews the other way towards being a bit less amoral than Wignall's usual fare and the story was a bit more low key but I liked it.

Kindred by Octavia Butler. This was unsurprisingly a bit of a depressing read but it was very good. The plot was fairly predictable once the premise had been established but it's very well written and pretty moving.

 

[Fragile Bird]

I just haven’t been posting even though I’ve been listening to a lot of books. Recently I decided to re-listen to the Hamish Macbeth books, or at least the last ten or so. Once I got into them I decided to re-read the whole lot. There are 36, but they’re short, most about 6 hours, and it’s like eating candy.

For those of you who haven’t read them, they are all titled “Death of a ….”, a Liar, a Bore, a Policeman, a Witch, a Perfect Wife etc. M. C. Beaton, of course, also wrote the Agatha Raisin series. I used to really enjoy them, but Beaton likes to torment her characters and I got tired of poor Agatha being so silly in her personal life. The tv series is good, though, and funny. Coincidentally PBS started running the Hamish Macbeth tv series, which I’ve recorded, but the series is god-awful bad. Only Hamish retains his name, every other character is renamed. Even his mutt Towzer is transformed to a Westie named Jock. Scotland, ya know, he has to have a Westie named Jock. I vaguely remember a controversy about the series, I wonder if Beaton ordered them to change all the names because the writing diverged so badly from the books. And 6’5” Hamish becomes not-even-5’7” Robert Carlyle, which is even worse than Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher. They didn’t even bother giving him the bright red hair that is Macbeth’s trademark, though he does capture a certain sardonic look I imagine Hamish gets, but not Hamish’s brilliant smile.

The books are police investigation/murder mysteries, but they’re not like the classic murder mysteries where you get enough clues to guess the murderer. Facts are presented as uncovered, and you can be really misled. And there’s a detective, Blair, who hates Macbeth so much, he does really evil things, up to trying to have him murdered, yet never really faces any consequences for his actions. Very cartoon like, but fun, and the same tactics are used in Agatha Raisin.

Beaton died a couple of years ago, and there’s a prologue in book 34 by a fellow named R.W. Green, who started ghost writing for her. They had lengthy discussions about the character, and apparently even into her 80s Beaton was full of plot ideas. I’m not sure when he started to help her, but his name appears on 34, Death of a Green-Eyed Monster, and 35, Death of a Traitor. I have put a hold on book 36, Death of Spy. Green has smoothly picked up the baton, doing a much better job than some of the other ghosts who’ve picked up, say, Agatha Christie. I found the Poirot books to be awful. I haven’t looked up the Agatha Raisin books, perhaps Beaton found a writer to carry on there as well.

Hamish follows in the fine tradition of the character that never ages, having appeared in the mid 1980s, remaining in his 30s in 2024. The first 15 books are read in a fairly rough manner by Shaun Griindell, though he smooths out in the later books, and then by Graeme Malcolm, who has a more sophisticated delivery. Unfortunately Malcolm has aged, unlike Macbeth, and I now find his voice is too old for the 35-ish Macbeth. Still good, though.

[Alytha]

I've read a sample of The Portable Door by Tom Holt, and I thought it sounded like fun, but I'm afraid that there will be the seemingly inevitable romance (or attempt at it) between Paul and Sophie, and I'm not in the mood for that.

Has anybody read it and can advise?

Further, I've read Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins because somebody on here recommended it. In general I really liked it, although I would have liked the ending to be a bit more... twisty?, with all the unreliable narrator thing she had going on.

Also read Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, a supernatural / horror story about the things you can find up in the mountains. It's really creepy (especially the intro...) and really messed-up in a good way. I've bought Hex by the same author but haven't read it yet.

 

[Winterfella]

5 hours ago, Alytha said:

Also read Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, a supernatural / horror story about the things you can find up in the mountains. It's really creepy (especially the intro...) and really messed-up in a good way. I've bought Hex by the same author but haven't read it yet.

I read and enjoyed Hex a few years ago. Same description, really creepy and really messed-up in a good way. I've been curious about Echo.

Recently really liked The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu, sequel to The Three Body Problem. It has me really looking forward to the Netflix show next month.

Currently reading and enjoying Babel by RF Kuang.

[Wilbur]

6 hours ago, Alytha said:

I've read a sample of The Portable Door by Tom Holt, and I thought it sounded like fun, but I'm afraid that there will be the seemingly inevitable romance (or attempt at it) between Paul and Sophie, and I'm not in the mood for that.

Has anybody read it and can advise?

I struggled through the first third of it and then laid it aside, for much those same reasons.

Plus, Tom Holt's office stories portray a world people by characters devoid of basic professional behavior, so that also hinders my enjoyment.  I would fire almost all of those characters within a week for their inappropriate language, inability to understand the critical path, and lack of focus - I don't want to spend reading time with them.

[Wilbur]

This week I listened to Robert Colton's Pompeii: A Tale of Murder in Ancient Rome, specifically the audiobook read by Dan Curtis.

The audiobook is well-produced, and Dan Curtis is a fine reader.  The story is well-written, and if you ever wanted to understand more about how the larger Roman society operated on a day-to-day basis in The City as well as the surrounding towns, this is the book for you.

I sort of enjoyed the book, because the portrayal is both convincing and well-researched.  Spend a month or so in Rome, and then another couple of months in Pompeii.  The characters in the book are also fully realized, and the setting is also clear to the reader.  Good stuff.

I had some problems with it, though.  First of all, the protagonist is an idiot, and his cringey lack of agency are difficult to stomach.  Secondly, the murder mystery is irrelevant to him.  I could not figure out why he and his companion spent so much time and energy uncovering the reasons for a murder and some other murder.  It wasn't relevant to them or their needs or What The Protagonist Wants.  Perhaps I was distracted and missed the motivation, but I never had any strong idea WHY they pursued the issue.

If the second book pops up, I will give it a try, since Colton knows how to write and how Romans lived.  I will hope that he has a better explanation as to why main characters do stuff.

[Gaston de Foix]

I finished The Mountain in the Sea based on recommendations on this thread.  I understand why others raced through it, and I did too, but I felt the ending was a bit abrupt and weak. 

Currently stuck on what to read and open to trying something new/classic in sci-fi as I'm much less well read there. 

Basically looking for something that holds up to the Expanse.  I've read the Salvation Trilogy and enjoyed it (but had to skim read large parts tbh).  I downloaded some samples of genre classics (Consider Phlebas, Revelation Space, Exordia) but nothing seemed to click. I've looked at the recommendations threads too.  Suggestions please?

[williamjm]

1 hour ago, Gaston de Foix said:

Currently stuck on what to read and open to trying something new/classic in sci-fi as I'm much less well read there. 

Basically looking for something that holds up to the Expanse.  I've read the Salvation Trilogy and enjoyed it (but had to skim read large parts tbh).  I downloaded some samples of genre classics (Consider Phlebas, Revelation Space, Exordia) but nothing seemed to click. I've looked at the recommendations threads too.  Suggestions please?

I think that Consider Phlebas is one of the weaker Culture books, since there's not really any order to most of the books in the series I think The Player of Games can be a better place to start.

Some other books to consider might be Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice, Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire or Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Children of Time.

[unJon]

3 hours ago, Gaston de Foix said:

I finished The Mountain in the Sea based on recommendations on this thread.  I understand why others raced through it, and I did too, but I felt the ending was a bit abrupt and weak. 

Currently stuck on what to read and open to trying something new/classic in sci-fi as I'm much less well read there. 

Basically looking for something that holds up to the Expanse.  I've read the Salvation Trilogy and enjoyed it (but had to skim read large parts tbh).  I downloaded some samples of genre classics (Consider Phlebas, Revelation Space, Exordia) but nothing seemed to click. I've looked at the recommendations threads too.  Suggestions please?

What you are looking for is The Gap Cycle by Stephen Donaldson. 

[Gaston de Foix]

1 hour ago, unJon said:

What you are looking for is The Gap Cycle by Stephen Donaldson. 

Read it at 14 (following the Covenant series).  I was a bit traumatized by the thing that happened early there, so maybe didn't get the full flavor of the series.  Donaldson has this bleakness, no? Of the authors I've read, on the Depress-o-meter: Robin Hobbs < Donaldson < Tchaikovksy of Shadows of Apt.

3 hours ago, williamjm said:

I think that Consider Phlebas is one of the weaker Culture books, since there's not really any order to most of the books in the series I think The Player of Games can be a better place to start.

 Thanks.  Will try it. 

3 hours ago, williamjm said:

Some other books to consider might be Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice, Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire or Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Children of Time.

Read A Memory Called Empire and loved it  Read the Children of Time and admired it (but was a bit bloated).   Will try Ancillary Justice - thank you.  

Edited February 25 by Gaston de Foix

[Wilbur]

6 hours ago, Gaston de Foix said:

...Currently stuck on what to read and open to trying something new/classic in sci-fi as I'm much less well read there. 

Basically looking for something that holds up to the Expanse.  I've read the Salvation Trilogy and enjoyed it (but had to skim read large parts tbh).  I downloaded some samples of genre classics (Consider Phlebas, Revelation Space, Exordia) but nothing seemed to click. I've looked at the recommendations threads too.  Suggestions please?

Another possibility you might enjoy is Walter Jon Williams' Dread Empire's Fall.

[polishgenius]

 

Ancillary Justice rocks. 


One I also really loved was the Machinieries of Empire trilogy by Yoon Ha-Lee. It's a bit more out-there, less grounded than Expanse (definitely more on the space-fantasy side of things), but I think it's great. Particularly recommended if you at all like the character of Thrawn in Star Wars. 

 

Some of Elizabeth Bear's SF stuff may also appeal. I particularly like the Jacob's Ladder trilogy.

 

 

 

Are you particularly set on a specific type of SF, that space-opera-ish kind? Despite being a different sort of story than anything he wrote, Expanse is very influenced, directly, by Arthur C Clarke, so something like Rendezvous with Rama or 2001 might be worth a try if you've never read them. 

[Gaston de Foix]

25 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Are you particularly set on a specific type of SF, that space-opera-ish kind? Despite being a different sort of story than anything he wrote, Expanse is very influenced, directly, by Arthur C Clarke, so something like Rendezvous with Rama or 2001 might be worth a try if you've never read them. 

I have enjoyed Space-Operaish sci-fi the most in the past, yes.  The Foundation Series was also a formative influence as was I, Robot (books, I hasten to add).  

Yes, I have never read Arthur C Clarke so will try Rendezvouz with Rama or 2001.  If I had to pick, which one of those two?

[Larry of the Lawn]

7 hours ago, Gaston de Foix said:

I finished The Mountain in the Sea based on recommendations on this thread.  I understand why others raced through it, and I did too, but I felt the ending was a bit abrupt and weak. 

 

I really loved the first 2/3 of it, but agree that the ending was on the weak side.  I feel like there were moments when the book approached some kind of revelation or threatened to breakthrough into a new paradigm but that it just didn't quite get there.  There was so much potential with the exploration of consciousness and language and awareness and perception, that really begged for more subtext.  

Overall I enjoyed it but was disappointed, it felt like the author didn't take full advantage of the concept.

[Gaston de Foix]

1 minute ago, Larry of the Lawn said:

I really loved the first 2/3 of it, but agree that the ending was on the weak side.  I feel like there were moments when the book approached some kind of revelation or threatened to breakthrough into a new paradigm but that it just didn't quite get there.  There was so much potential with the exploration of consciousness and language and awareness and perception, that really begged for more subtext.  

Overall I enjoyed it but was disappointed, it felt like the author didn't take full advantage of the concept.

This.  Out of curiosity did you read the Children of Time series?  It provided a different perspective on Octopus consciousness. 

[Larry of the Lawn]

2 minutes ago, Gaston de Foix said:

This.  Out of curiosity did you read the Children of Time series?  It provided a different perspective on Octopus consciousness. 

I have not but it's somewhere in the next 25 in the tbr pile