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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Here we go again,cant believe this is the 5th year for this challenge. This challenge caters for all kinds of people and their circumstances,so do come and join us for another year of fascinatingly diverse reads.  | |
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Regular
Posts: 53
Location: USA | I'm in, even if most of my list this year is leftover from last year's failed challenge. Cross your fingers! | |
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Regular
Posts: 62
| I'm in too. Haven't picked half my mix yet but we'll get there! | |
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Veteran
Posts: 100
| I'm in too! I've selected the more modest 20 books to start with.
Thanks for hosting, Dustydigger! | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Wow,people.everyone is quick off the mark this year,already 12 familiar Pick N Mixers signed up,and a newbie (I think),Nea! Welcome,all.
And some of you have already picked your books! I had better get cracking adding mine,probably about 60 already chosen,just got to find the time to add them!
I do have a fairly eclectic list,but certainly hope to get up to date with the Hugo winners. So far I've read 54/66 of the Hugo lists,and 43/53 of the Nebulas. But there are some seriously massive tomes on those lists,not sure whether I'll read them all this year. Oh well,there's always next year,isn't there?
Good luck and have fun with your challenges! | |
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Uber User
Posts: 613
Location: New Zealand | My list this year is full of all the books I purchased last year, but never got around to reading. | |
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Regular
Posts: 53
Location: USA | Off to a promising start by finishing The War Against the Rull by A.E. Van Vogt. This is one of a group of novels I discovered in my hometown library, when I was between ten and twelve years old. The covers caught my eye and I was already hooked on science fiction, so that was the extent of my selection process back then. It's been decades since I read this one, but scenes from it remained stuck in my memory. This is one of his "fix ups," (like Voyage of the Space Beagle which I reread last year after a similar decades-long delay) and it suffers from a series of disconnects in the plot. The ending seemed weak to me, as if the author was having trouble wrapping it up and finally said enough's enough and walked away. Knowing no better as a boy, I apparently enjoyed the book - what I understood of it. This time around, it was a bit of a disappointment.
Moving on - I'm well into Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan. Very impressive work so far. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Lester Del Rey's Battle on Mercury was a rather cute little story ,one of the Winston juveniles about a young boy, a grizzled old prospector and an alien ball of electricity who head out through the wilderness to get to a communications relay station to get aid for their little community after the rocket carrying supplies to them crashed,dooming them to starvation. Typical tale of plucky boy coming of age,but nicely written and with an interesting background on Mercury. Good fun.
Coming up.Robert Charles Wilson's Spin,my first book by this author, and a UF novel,Amanda Stevens The Visitor | |
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Veteran
Posts: 100
| I finished Craddock's An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors. It was praised by several bloggers so I knew I would most likely enjoy it and wasn't disappointed. It was a fun ride with very detailed world-building. | |
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Uber User
Posts: 613
Location: New Zealand | My Pick & Mix challenge has gotten off to a great start. Only one disappointment so far, Anna Dressed in Blood. Loved Marcus Sakey's Brilliance series. And A God in the Shed was seriously good and scary. | |
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Regular
Posts: 53
Location: USA | Finished reading Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan. A dark, violent, intense story, richly detailed and well-written. I can see why this made a splash when it first appeared. The main character is one of those rare anti-heroes that you have trouble not liking and rooting for. The plot was twisted and complicated, a description that could be applied to several of the characters. If Netflix does this book justice, it'll be a violent and likely controversial mini-series.
Going for something quieter and (I hope) less bloody next - All Flesh is Grass by Clifford D. Simak. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | I loved Simon R Green's The Man with the Golden Torc,such a fun wildly inventive romp. Sadly there is only one more of the series in our library system,I would have really loved to read the whole series.
Also finished my first Robert Charles Wilson book,Spin Intriguing premise about aliens blocking off the earth while the rest of the galaxy continues on in time.Earth comes to realize that for every year on earth, time is rushing ahead at a 100 million years beyond the veil that blocks out the stars,so that within 40 years earth time our dying hugely expanded sun will swallow up our planet.Who are these aliens,what is their purpose and what can mankind do ? Interesting characters and complex relationship blend nicely with the plot. Very engaging.That makes 55/66Hugos read.
Now all I have left to do this month,apart from 60 pages of a Clarke juvenile,Dolphin Island, is finish the extremely stodgy Foundation and Earth How can such an exciting premise be so dull in execution? The dialogue is excruciating,the protagonist has suffered a personality transplant since the last book.presumably to fit the plot here,and it is all deadly dull,stilted and long-winded.Wish Clarke had left the fun Baley and Daneel Olivaw books alone instead of adding all this stodge. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | From my thesaurus
synonyms for dull
''boring,tedious,flat,stodgy,Foundation and Earth,insipid,characterless...........
Sorry but I was never much of a Foundation fan,nor a Robots fan really and havent found the attempt by Asimov to firmly link the two different series together very convincing.But then I never found psycho-history in the least convincing either.Unappealing characters,interminable tedious conversations,and a rather weak ending did nothing for me either. Relieved to have finished.
Wont be reading the prequels...... | |
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Regular
Posts: 53
Location: USA | Finished reading All Flesh Is Grass by Clifford D. Simak yesterday. Odd little book with what was for me a surprisingly disappointing ending. Someone suggests a potential solution to the crisis, the 1st person POV character decided it makes sense, and that that's that. Nothing about the implementation of the solution. It could work, so we'll end it here. It came across as incomplete.
Next up, The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Read and enjoyed C J Cherryh's Convergence. Cherryh's plots are like onions,you peel away one layer to find something else below. We are still learning more and more about the actions and motives of the crew of that ship that so memorably appeared way back when Bren,totally clueless back then,was having breakfast with Ilisildi and learned of the ship's return.Lot of water under the bridge since then!
My main problem with the book was the horrible cover art. Bren-ji looks about 55 at least!!! lol.And fat!Too many teacakes perhaps?
Bring back Michael Whelan.The cover for Invader sums up the whole series for me.
Too little of Banichi and Jago for my tastes.And no Ilisidi at all.But still it was an enjoyable read.
Robert Silverberg's Nightwings was interesting and absorbing Mankind got through the First Cycle of earth's history, the technology phase,but during the Second Cycle they tinkered too much with genetic manipulation and also ruined the climate bringing catastrophe on the world - and gains the disapproving attention of aliens. Now,hundreds of years later humans are living in a sort of mediaeval style in a world that has remnants of all of history.The protagonist, a Watcher,is a weak old man with a ritualistic job looking out for the return of the aliens However no-one really believes they will return,they think it is just a legend.The Watcher,with a winged female and a Changeling are about to live through turbulent times.
The novella form of Nightwings won the 1969 Hugo and thisversion is made up of 3 novellas following the old Watcher.This is a rich and complex story in Vance's Dying Earth tradition.I've got to wonder if Gene Wolfe read and was influenced by this. I keep expecting Severian to come round the corner in the city! He would definitely fit in well!
Catherine Asaro's Nebula winning The Quantum Rose,another in her Skolian series,was nice mix of romance,family ties,and space opera,with an interesting new world description and an intriguing new mystery in the mix.. Nice light comfort read really,not too sure how it won the Nebula - but the Nebulas are like that,they come in all sorts of subgenres and I am never quite sure why they pick certain books.
David Drake's military SF Some Golden Shore was also very enjoyable light fare,the kind of stuff I read on buses and waiting for hospital appointments,which doesnt need much focus or brain power but keeps the mind occupied lol.Kristine Kathryn Rusch's Diving into the Wreck was also full of adventure but with a rather more sombre tone to it.
And lastly,in this hasty update of my Pick N Mix reads I just completed a very odd mix of hard SF,romance,marine biology,aliens and large dollops of horror,Joe Haldeman's Hugo winning Camouflage,which I liked a lot better than his acclaimed Forever War sequence That makes 55/66 Hugos read
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Regular
Posts: 53
Location: USA | I'm remiss. Finished The Lathe of Heaven about a week ago. Enjoyed it completely, and I'm sorry I waited so long before reading it. The next on the official list is Emergence by C.J. Cherryh, but I've got a nonfiction book I've been picking away at for a couple of months, and I want to focus my attention on it and finish. | |
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Regular
Posts: 53
Location: USA | Certainly has gotten quiet around here. (Like I should talk!)
Finished Emergence by Cherryh and thoroughly enjoyed it, which should come as no real surprise. As always, I'm anxious to see where the story goes from here. It's been a hell of a trip so far!
Followed that up with Heir to Empire by Timothy Zahn. Well written and quite entertaining. Not sure I'll be diving into the vast array of Star Wars novels out there, but I will eventually read the other two in his trilogy. I'll also be checking out more of his other work. His writing style and attention to detail appeals to me.
Next up is The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle. One of the consequences of being in groups like this one is that people will sometimes mention books I recall reading long ago. This led me to rediscover Andre Norton a couple of years ago. The Black Cloud is one I remember picking up in my home town library when I was in my early teens. I remember the title and recall being fascinated by it - and that's about it. Some of these old books from memory have held up well, others - not so much. We'll soon see how this one does.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Sorry I've been away so long. I have read very little SF lately,had lots of ill health and family issues.
Woo-hoo! FINALLY completed Kim Stanley Robinson's Blue Mars early March,thus wrapping up his mammoth 2300 page saga about terraforming Mars from a dry arid desert to a livable habitat complete with sea!. I really found it hard going,KSRs style is so super-detailed,ponderous and SLOW. That does work to give a solidity and super realism to the planet Mars,which becomes a true presence in the books. That is certainly an impressive achievement and I give him full credit. But on the side of plot,pace and characters I found the books a big irritating disappointment. I have one more KSR award winning book to read this year,2312 (a mere 500 pages,thats barely getting going with this man!) and then I will leave Mr Robinson on the library shelves in peace!
That makes 56/66 Hugos read and 45/53 Nebulas.
I read David weber's light but enjoyable young adult Fire Season,and Treecat Wars,about how Honor Harrington's ancestor first met and interacted with the treecats.Kept mixing the treecats up in my head with H Beam Piper's fuzzies,same sort of feel to the books.
Seanan McGuire's A Local Habitation was only so-so.I am somewhat disappointed in this series,even if it is about the Fae. wont make much effort finding more of the books.
Also not to happy with Catherynne M Valente's The Girl Who Soared above Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two. In the first two books of the series the rich ornate and elaborate style was fascinating and enriched the story. This outing the style overwhelmed the story,seemed to me to be saying look at me arent I a clever writer. Wont bother with the other 3 or 4 books in the series.
Ben Aaronovitch's The Furthest Station was good fun as usual,though we saw little of the river deities this time,It was very short,more like a novella put out to prevent us being irritated at a long gap between books.
Andre Norton's Night of Masks was a typically enjoyable read,competently written,aimed at the youth market,but she was never afraid to put in harsh issues. This one was about an orphan hideously scarred in a spaceship crash and his desperation to do anything to earn surgery to heal his face.
Edgar Rice Burroughs Chessmen of Mars was surprisingly gruesome at times,but good fun. Next in the series is Mastermind of Mars - if I can find it.
And last but certainly not least I enjoyed a reread of Larry Niven's Ringworld,just as much fun now as several decades ago. Still probably the most famous,and one of the most awesome, Big Dumb Objects ever devised. An artifact, a created enviroment a mere 3 million times the area of the earth? Awesome indeed!
And thats it,not much to show for over 2 months.
I am about 150 pages into N K Jemison's The Fifth Season. Interesting world building but certainly not full of joy and laughter!. Also ready to start Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio but I am behind in my planned reading to complete 17 Hugo and Nebula winners this year.Real life poking its ugly nose into my plans.Grrr! | |
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Regular
Posts: 53
Location: USA | Dustydigger - Sorry to hear about health and family problems. Seems you do get more than your share!
Finished with The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle, one of those books gleaned from the home town library when I was very young. I have no idea why this one left such a mark on my memory. Reading it now, I realized that better than half of what went on in that story sailed right past the kid I was - I couldn't have been more than 13 years old at the time. Must have been the epic scale of disaster, even though it was described in the driest and most scientific of prose. This book is serious old school hard sci-fi, one of the most unusual 'first contact' stories ever written, and was an interesting reread.
Still in reread land, though for a different motive (I'm ever so slowly working my way through the Hugo winners), The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. | |
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Veteran
Posts: 100
| I'm sorry you didn't like McGuire's Local Habitation. It was the weakest book in the series for me, too. Chessmen of Mars is one of my favorite books in the Barsoom series, so I'm happy you liked it, too.
I've read quite a bit:
Jennifer Foehner Wells' Fluency turned out to be a disappoitment. It started out nicely with a huge alien object in the Greater Asteroid Belt. NASA sends a group of scientists to exlopre. Unfortunately, this turned to be a romance between the magical linguist and one of the astronauts.
In contrast I really liked R. J. Stearn's Barbary Station which is about space pirates! Two engineers want to join up a space pirate fleet. They hijack a colony ship thinking it's enough to secure them jobs. But the pirates are in deep trouble and need the newcomers' help. It?s has lots of stuff I want to read about, such as an established couple (instead of courtship romance) working together, a sibling relationship, and cool space pirates. Some of the world-building stuff was pretty vague which might irritate other people.
Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Miracles is the final book in the fantasy series. I loved this series and this is a great ending.
Steven Brust's Vallista was a lot of fun. It's the newest book in a long series. It's weird and requires quite a bit of knowledge about the world and the characters, so I don't recommend it as a starting point. But for an old fan, it was great.
Another final book in the series was Mercedes Lackey's Beauty and the Werewolf, a fantasy romance series set in the 500 Kingdoms. Perhaps weakest in the series, the male love interest doesn't have much presence in the book and Bella is a competent level-headed female lead, much like the other heroines in this series. It riff off of Red Riding Hood and werewolves.
Madeline Miller's Song of Achilles was a pleasant surprise. It tells the story of Achilles and Patroclus from Patroclus' POV. It's set in a obviously magical world were deities and magic are real.
I also really liked Martha Well's All Systems Red. The MC of the novella is a murderbot who has anxiety issues when dealing with humans. It's written in first person from the bot's POV and I was really charmed by it's voice. The bot just wants people to go away so that it can continue to watching the shows it loves.
Finally, Olympus Bound by Jordanna Brodsky was another last in a series. It was a satisfying conclusion to the series. | |
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Regular
Posts: 74
| Last year I read some massive tomes - among them Martin Gilbert's biography of Churchill and the first two books of Hamilton's Night's Dawn series - so in terms of book count, I did not do very well. (The Naked God is sitting there, watching & waiting its turn). This year I told myself, "you are not getting any younger, "so why waste time? Start reading all those classic sci-fi books you've always wanted to!" I resolved to start knocking them off. I took several top 100 sci-fi book lists and came up with a composite list, which also knocks out a good number of Hugo/Nebula winners. So I've been attacking that list and prowling the used bookstores for copies of the ones I'm missing. Of the top 30, I've read all but 6; but of the next 70, I've only read 19! I have 28 unread ones on my bookshelf, so that's the stack I've gone after. I've strayed a little from that list, but here's what I've knocked out so far this year: Childhood's End, Hitchhiker's Guide, The Stars My Destination, The Time Machine, A Canticle for Leibowitz, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Gateway, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, A Wrinkle in Time, Altered Carbon, Earth Abides, The Door into Summer (re-read), Star Maker, Babel-17. Others outside the combined list: R.U.R., Camp Concentration, The City & The City, The Last Colony, Zoe's Tale, Lock-In, The Fifth Season. I'm just letting my mood take me anywhere in the list, but I hope I can knock out those 6 unread in the high 30. Not only am I enjoying the quest, but I feel like I am accomplishing something! | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Hi finminer,so glad you are having fun making your way through your list. I am a list lover too,and was shocked when I joined WWEnd way back in 2012 to find just how much I had to read to reduce my woeful ignorance.Still a long way to go but at least my award and list stats look fairly respectable now,(at least on the SF side,I am not much of a fantasy reader) I felt quite smug when I looked at your lists of books you've ''knocked out'' this year.I've read all but 3 of your main list 11/14(still unread Altered Carbon,Earth Abides,and Star Maker).Plus all but 2 of your off list books 5/7(still to read Camp Concentration,R.U.R)
Thats a great reading list I am sure you have thoroughly enjoyed them.
I am attempting to complete the Hugo and Nebula winners lists this year,with 11 titles still to go,but what with illness and family issues my reading is way down this year,so I'm not at all sure I can manage them. Some of them are massive tomes and they are daunting me.
Anyway keep up the good work! | |
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Regular
Posts: 74
| Thanks dustydigger! I joined the "Books I've read in 2018" challenge because I saw you were in there and looked over your list as well. Like you said, I've read a number of those in previous years, some long, long ago in a galaxy very far away. I just keep plugging away and should have 3 more to add within a week. I've had some major scores in the used bookstores recently: the 7 books of the Lensman series, the first 3 Earthsea books, a few PKD books, Clarke's The City & the Stars, Parable of the Sower. Again, focusing on my composite Top 100 list, many of which are the Hugo/Nebula winners. I'll pick up the rest of those later. The sub-200 page ones are easy to knock out but when you get to those monster tomes, they are a bear. I want to get The Naked God (1300+ pages!) out of my hair, so I plan to clear out other books I'm reading and start that one around October 1 so I can finish by year end! Hang in there! | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Wow Finmine, you did very well at the bookshop! I envy you.Secondhand bookshops are an endangered species here on UK,the nearest to me is an hour away,and its pretty sparse in the SF field anyway,especially the older books I enjoy.A mere 4 shelves,and not one book to tempt me!
I did visit the nearest bookchain branch 6 miles away recentlyy,and actually was rather impressed at the big improvement in stock.Maybe someone on the staff is a fan?. They had no less than 22 of the SF Masterworks series,in the past I rarely saw any.And someone must love PK Dick,because there were at least 6 of his titles. But not a single Heinlein or Clarke.And - apart from the ridiculous prices,I cant afford to buy new books - my pet peeve was still in force,no Lois McMaster Bujold or C J Cherryh at all. You dont find them in the libraries either. For a decade the old bookchain which used to be at the same store would order each new LMB and Cherryh for me from the USA,but the next chain didnt do that,nor does this one. Thank heavens for Abebooks and the rest!
As for mighty tomes,I know that I should grab Neal Stephenson's Anathem while it is still available at the library. But the first time I saw it,saw the 1000 pages of the most godawfully tiny print I have ever seen,and hefted it - heavier than a brick - I hastily put it back and scuttled away!Normal size print would probably make it about 1200 pages long lol. Now I keep my eyes averted from it.But it never goes out on loan,I keep expecting it to disappear for ever. Then when I need to read it I will have to buy it .I have only read 2 of Stephenson's books,Diamond Age and Snow Crash,and didnt like either,despite being only a modest(for Stephenson) 500plus pages,so buying it was be punishment. . | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | I normally try to give at least some idea of my opinions about the books I read,but life is so hectic nowadays that I have failed entirely to do this in the last 2 months.At least I should list them!:
May reads;
Robert A Heinlein - Methusaleh's Children
Emma Bull - Bone Dance
John Scalzi - Head On
T H White - Mistress Masham's Repose
Greg Bear - Darwin's Radio
Charlie Jane Anders - All the Birds in the Sky
John Scalzi - The End of All Things
Harry Harrison - Planet of No Return
Thomas Watson - The Plight of the Eli'ahtna
And in June:
Piers Anthony - A Spell for Chameleon
Becky Chambers - The Long Way to a Small,Angry Planet
ERnest Cline -Ready Player One
Robert J Sawyer - Hominids
Clifford D Simak - All Flesh is Grass
Cherie Priest - Wings to the Kingdom
Ann Leckie - Provenance
The next Hugos are doorstoppers - Paladin of Souls,Deepness in the Sky and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.so I am veering off to read 2312 and The Obelisk Gate before girding my loins for the battle of the big books. | |
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Regular
Posts: 53
Location: USA | The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Adulthood Rites by Octavia Butler
Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey
There, I think that catches me up, and puts me halfway through my modest list just as I pass the midpoint of the year. There's definitely a slim chance I'll hit the mark this year.
I'm going to tackle Sword and Citadel by Gene Wolfe next. Of the books left it is most likely to take some time, if my experience reading Shadow and Claw is any guide. No easy road, as the narrator likes to say. Well, midsummer is when I'm at my sharpest. Now's the time. Onward!
BTW - Pleases me no end to see one of my titles on dustydigger's list. ;-) | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Hi Thomas,good luck with Severian!
I have been having a terrible time getting on here,I just couldnt log in. Then I saw a post by Justified Sinner over on Librarything talking about caches and cookies. I am SSSOOO not computer savvy,its taken ages to manage to get back in here. I did manage it once,then it all went pearshaped again a week ago. I cleared all the caches etc and ended up having to log in to all my fave sites,and over the years I have had a variety of passwords etc,so it was very irritating getting everything sorted - and then WWEnd disappeared again last week Arrgghh!!.I was more careful and selective this time,see how long it lasts.lol.
My reading is minimal these days,I normally read about 120 or more books in the year on here,but I am only at 49 books so far,and have some massive tomes,so things are not going well. Too many real life issues,new babies in the family,health problems,its all never ending.This may be the year that I dont reach my 80 books for the first time in 5 years.Can but try. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Ha! The next time after the last post I tried to get on here it was back to square one. Eventually I got the Opera Browser and dedicated it to WWEnd,doing private browsing and clearing up at the end of each session and having to log in again each time.We have all got very lazy and looking for convenience and speed,havent we?But Yay! Got on here without difficulty today for the first time in weeks. Thanks for all the work the admin did to put things right we are all very grateful. I really need my WWEnd fix,even if my reading is rather pathetic at the moment.I love my lists.
Right,my books read in July:
Kate Griffin - The Minority Council. This was the last in the Matthew Swift,Midnight Mayor series,about a a sorceror who was murdered,and then resurrected later,who becomes the protector of a magical London against some pretty weird and destructive enemies. I loved this series,because London is almost a character itself. This sort of thing is fairly common among British writers who explore a fantasy London intermingled with the real dirty and dingy one. eg,the Felix Castor books, Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus books,Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere,V E Schwab's multiple superimposed London's in A Shade of Magic,China Mieville's Kraken,Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series etc etc etc.Cant think of many other such cities.
Clifford D Simak's City.is such a sad book. Like so many other authors of the time,Simak seems stunned by the horror of the recent world war,and burdened with despair as the shadow of the bomb looms over mankind.That era produced some great SF,but certainly not optimism or much joy.In much of his work when he feels the burden of flawed humanity's inability to live in peace,he sometimes whisks the hero away from the problems,like in Way Station when the protagonist goes off to the stars in the end,but this time his view of mankind's future is sad and bleak.Impressive,but I still prefer Way Station,since that is a whole novel,not a ''bitty'' fix-up.
I found Moorcock's sword and sorcery tale of the albino king Elric of Melnibone and his quest to find his beloved a bit odd. I am not into this genre at all,but it is an interesting style,rather like old Lord Dunsany style fantasy merged with the norse sense of doom,as I'm sure I got a very strong whiff of Beowulf in there,and even a darker more flawed version of John Carter of Mars! lol.I am too ignorant of the genre to really assess it but it does have an odd sort of charm. I needed to read a Moorcock book for my Worlds Without End Grand Masters of SF challenge to read at least one book from each Grand Master.That makes 33/34,I only have James E Gunn left to read.
I only read Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave because I needed a ''Y'' author for my A-Z author/titles challenge! lol.
I just whizzed through the book,and I dont think it missed a cliche,but I feel quite tolerant about that,the well worn tropes are actually all fresh and new to young teens,and I can see why they all raved over this book.I found the first half of the book much better than the rather farfetched latter bits,but it was still quite an enjoyable read.What is it about dystopias and catastrophes than attracts young people so much. My generation werent catered for with a full blown YA market,but we still reveled in things like 1984,Day of the Triffids,Fahrenheit 451 etc.Young folks just enjoy being depressed or in grim settings,I guess :0). The difference is that back in my day under the shadow of the bomb and WWII,the books mostly had a really dark ending. These days the plucky young kids somehow manage to fight back and even overcome the enemies to some extent - eg Hunger Games,Divergent,Maze Runner etc. An underlying confidence and optimism perhaps,which were in short supply back in the 50s here in the UK at least.
Jasper Fforde's Lost in a Good Book was a light fun read from the Thursday Next series,a clever take on an alternative world where the line between books and reality is so thin people and characters can hop in and out of books,and there are Literary Detectives to stop people changing the plots of books. Oh and genetic engineering has brought back mammoths and dodos.Clever .
Books in progress at the moment,N K Jemisin's The Obelisk Gate,Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312,and Simak's Time and Again,plus some light UF as a change of pace.
The WWEnd problems have severely affected people adding their reads on the Pick N Mix challenge hope that gets sorted soon. We have read 457 books so far this year,hope we can reach 600 by the end of 2018. Get reading and posting Pick N Mixers! | |
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Veteran
Posts: 100
| I've also been having trouble loggin into this site. Meanwhile, I've read a lot and even increased my goal to 40 books. I've also in Mount TBR challenge.
Katharine Neville's the Eight was unfortunately not to my taste. I enjoyed the structure where the story is divided between two timelines: in in 1970s which starts at New York but spreads all over the globe and the other in 1790, during the French Revolution. Lots of different POV characters but not enough mystery for me. I ended up enjoying the historical chapters far more.
Juliet Marillier's Dreamer's Pool was another very hefty tome. I listened it as an audiobook which has three different narrators, one for each POV character, and ended up loving the book. It's a fantasy story with two escaped convicts (well, one of them makes a deal with a faery to get out) and a gentle prince with a mystery.
I also listened Lois McMaster Bujold's two novellas 'Prisoner of Limnos' and 'Penric and the Fox' and enjoyed both of them. Prisoner is continuation to 'Mira's Last Dance' while 'Penric and the Fox' is a stand-alone and sort of sequel to 'Penric and the Shaman' (same characters appear).
Tanya Huff's Fire's Stone is a fantasy story with three POV characters: Aaron is a thief who carries a lot of guilt from his past and from his dad, Darvish is a third prince and therefore a drunken fool, and Chandra is a wizard who is estranged from her father. The trio must get back a very valuable jewel. Light and fun fantasy.
I continue to enjoy Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's war series. I've now listened the second and the third books and I've already gotten the last two.
Finally, Tracey Townsend's the Nine is an impressive fantasy debut. It deals with religion on various levels which isn't often done in fantasy. I liked most of the characters but unfortunately the final pages revealed something about them which took away quite a lot of my enjoyment. Still, a nice read and can be read as a stand-alone. | |
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Regular
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Location: USA | I should finish reading Sword and Citadel within a couple of weeks. My pace should improve about then. It isn't a hard book to read, but it takes a lot of attention, and who would want to rush through such prose? It's very good, but then, I knew that from having read Shadow and Claw. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | It was such an intricate story,Thomas. I completed the set last year. The further through I went the more careful I learned to be,because you never knew when some minor character or trifling event would turn out to be significant down the line. Severian himself is an amazing character,complex and mysterious.
But it does move slowly. I would be totally immersed in the story,and then surface to find I had only covered a dozen pages lol.
Also I was reading the massive 4 volume omnibus,beautifully made,high quality paper,and it weighed a ton!Not good with my arthritic fingers,so I could only do it in small sections Definitely a marathon rather than a sprint but a fascinating experience.
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Regular
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Location: USA | I'm reading the two volume paperback version. A little easier to hold on to. ;-) | |
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Regular
Posts: 53
Location: USA | Finished Sword and Citadel sooner than I expected. Amazing book. I really need to read more by Wolfe.
Followed that up with a reread of Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm. Finished it yesterday. I'd forgotten what chilling tale it is. An interesting examination of the needs of the individual vs. the needs of the group or community. And of the danger to be found in conformity. Tightly and beautifully written, as well. Highly recommended, if you haven't already read this one.
Next up, short stories by Neal Asher, The Gabble and Other Stories. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | I was left a little bemused (ha! tell the truth Dusty,a LOT bemused) by Citadel,it left me with more questions than answers. From what I have gathered about the next book,The Urth of the New Sun,I will NOT be much wiser if I read it. I think a couple of years break from Severian is wise for the sake of my poor dull brain! | |
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Regular
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Location: USA | Yes, as much as I like Wolfe's writing, I probably won't read Urth of the New Sun anytime soon.
Meanwhile, The Gabble by Neil Asher impressed me enough that I will begin exploring his Polity universe. But first - The Affinities by Robert Charles Wilson. | |
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Regular
Posts: 53
Location: USA | Fourteen down, six to go. The Affinities by Robert Charles Wilson was a good read, easily four stars, and did not end the way I might have expected. Very well done. But that, from this author, I did expect. | |
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Veteran
Posts: 100
| I finally started reading the Expanse series. I've watched the first two seasons of the show (only two are available here) and the show is very faithful to "Leviathan Wakes" by James S. A. Corey. Great world-building and a mystery plotline. The first book has only the POVs of detective Miller and James Holden.
I also read Hannu Rajaniemi's collected short fiction "Invisible Planets and other stories". I quite liked his Quantum Thief trilogy. Some of these stories are similar to the trilogy: in other words, has science so advanced that it's pretty much magic. But the collection has stories in other styles as well, near-future, mix of science fiction and Finnish mythology and a couple are even modern-day fantasy or horror. I enjoyed them and it's a good place to start reading Rajaniemi.
I enjoyed the Martian by Andy Weir quite a lot a couple of years back, so of course I had to get his next book "Artemis". It's a thriller and a heist story sent on the (only) domed city in the Moon. It's told in the first person so a lot depends on if you like the main character who is an opinioned, prickly, and foul-mouthed. I ended up enjoying it a lot. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 556
Location: Great Lakes, USA | Challenge Update - so far this year I have read:
The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold. I am sure that this book was considered groundbreaking when it was written. I loved the time travel part. That was different than most of the time travel books that I have read, but I had a hard time liking the narcissistic main character.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I know I read this in elementary school, but I wanted to reread it before I saw the movie. I remembered almost nothing about this book. I guess I didn't like it that much back then and still didn't like it that much now. I have no interest in continuing with the series.
Dreams Before the Start of Time by Anne Charnock. This isn't the type of book I usually read, but I read A Calculated Life by her and enjoyed that one. I liked this one too. It reminded me a bit of Cloud Atlas and Arkwright in that it covers many generations.
Blood's a Rover by Harlan Ellison. I read A Boy and His Dog in junior high. That one almost got me banned from science fiction when my mom picked it up to see what I was reading. That was the best of the stories in this book. How can anyone not like Blood the dog?
The Prisoner by Thomas Disch. TV novelizations can be a little off from the tv show and this one was. I love the tv series! I vaguely remember my dad watching this when I was a kid. I have since watched all episodes and loved them. The book wasn't bad, but Number Six didn't seem to always be in character.
The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard. This is the first story I have read in Bodard's Xuya Universe and I will be reading more. Hope the Tea Master is in more of them.
Those Who Walk in Darkness by John Ridley. I am not quite sure what to make of this one. Perhaps that is the point. It's a cops and criminals urban fantasy, but who is morally right and wrong is definitely in question. There is a sequel and I think I will read it to see how the characters develop.
I have three more books to read to finish my 10. Although I have the three picked out at the moment, that will probably change. I am always finding interesting things to read based on other people's reviews. | |
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Veteran
Posts: 100
| I finally read Genevieve Cogman's newest Invisible Library book: "The Lost Plot". This time Irene and her apprentice librarian Kai get tangled into dragon politics and are sent to a world that's similar to 1920s US with gangsters and prohibition in force. Another very enjoyable book in this series.
I also continued Juliet Marillier's Blackthorn and Grim series with the second book "The Tower of Thorns". Just like the first book, it's a lush fantasy inspired by fairy tales.
I finished Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War series with "Command Decision" and "Victory conditions". They're a fine ending for the series.
I also started a fun steampunk series with "Romulus Buckle and the City of Founders" by Richard Ellis Preston Jr. It's quite over-the-top series with short chapters which tend to end in cliffhangers and plenty of POV characters.
I also read two Star Trek: TNG books which both ended up focusing on exploration. "Dyson Sphere" by Charles Pellegrino and George Zebrowski explores the Dyson Sphere from TNG's sixth season episode "Relics". It also has two interesting essays about Trek techology. Diane Duane's "Intellivore" is set outside Federation space and Enterpise is joined by two other Starfleet ships to find out who or what is preying on the local starships. Both have slowish plot but I ended up enjoying them quite a lot. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 556
Location: Great Lakes, USA | Finished with my ten with these three.
The Freeze-Frame Revolution - Excellent. A dictatorial AI and people who rebel even though they are awake only a few days in thousands/millions. I think Peter Watts has moved to my list of favorite authors.
Made to Kill - Entertaining. This is the first book in the series of Raymond Electromatic mysteries. I have read all but the latest before I read this one. They are fun reads.
The October Country - I liked all the stories except one, which almost made me not finish it. But, since I like Bradbury, I kept reading.
I have lots of time to read over the holidays, so I might add another ten to this challenge if I can get the rest of my challenges done. I'm looking forward to next year's challenge! | |
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Regular
Posts: 53
Location: USA | Just finished reading Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross. On the one hand, it's very good. Well-written, interesting and complicated plot, lots of "out there" technology, and a fascinating interstellar culture. Worth reading, even knowing he does not plan to return to the series. And that's the frustrating part of the book, since the way it ends it is abundantly clear there could be more. I hope he one day reconsiders his decision to stop at two novels in that universe.
Next: Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Having my doubts regarding completing this list before the end of the year. | |
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Veteran
Posts: 100
| More tie-in fiction: I got my hands on a Flash/Arrow crossover duology. I love the Flash tv-show and "Flash: the Haunting of Barry Allen" (by Susan and Clay Griffiths) was very much like the show! Barry and the team (Cisco, Iris, Joe, and Caitlin) must face several of the villains from the show at the same time and Barry is seeing glimpses of his older self. Eventually, he calls Oliver Queen for help.
"Arrow: A Generation of Vipers" continues of the storyline while focusing on team Arrow (Felicity, Digg, and Lyla). They go to Markovia to find a cure for Barry. Both highly entertaining for fans of the shows.
I also read Nancy A. Collins's "Right Hand Magic" which the start of a romantic urban fantasy trilogy Golgotham. This world has plenty of magical creatures, like centaurs, dryads, and various werecreatures. The story is set in New York where the creatures live in their own district, the Golgotham. The main character doesn't have any magical abilities but she moves to Golgotham and gets to know the people there, including a very handsome healer.
Next up: Corey's "Caliban's War". | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Ouch! ts been months since I posted on here,though I have been checking in. Thank you daxxh,Mervi and Leyra'an for posting to keep the thread alive while i was embroiled in miserable RL issues which severely limited my online time. Plus reading time too,unfortunately.I am almost 30 SF/F books down on last year's reads I started the year hoping to finish off my marathon trek through the Hugo and Nebula winners,but still have completed only 61/67 Hugos,,49/54 Nebulas.Hope to finish them by the summer,then its on to fill the gaps in my Locus award winners.Got to have a WWEnd list on the go! lol.
But the Pick N Mixers in general have put me to shame
Well done Weesam and Ann Walker for posting 80 books! Diane is on 74,Naomi_uk72 on 70 and Hneite on 67.Great work. And daxxh.JonRuddock,morpheus,piibald and simulacrum all finished their challenges.Awesome!
Wake up ScoLgo,and finish climbing Up the Walls of the World to complete your 40.
Well done Thomas.(Leyra'an) I know you had an intense writing year,so 16 books is really commendable!
And i count Sushicat(24 books) and Momosnyx (22 books) as finishers,as they are both over 20 books.
We only need to add one title to reach 700 books. Really excellent.
I will certainly do Pick N' Mix again next year,and hopefully life will run more smoothly and I wont neglect this thread so much! | |
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Regular
Posts: 53
Location: USA | Finished Red Moon and found it an interesting read,and not so far-fetched in its speculations as some might think.
dustydigger - yes, as always my other priority seriously cut into reading time. That may be easier to juggle next year, though. As of 31 October I'm free of the day job. | |
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Veteran
Posts: 100
| Well, Corey's "Caliban's War" was great, if very long. It introduces three new POV characters and we finally see Chrisjen Avarasarala, UN politican who is great in the TV-show and also in the book.
Juliet Marillier's "Den of Wolves" was a great ending to the Blackthorn and Grim fantasy series.
Another Star Trek: TNG book "Do Comets Dream?" by S. P. Somtow was a good read. The TNG crew is sent to a planet where the main culture/religion believes that it will come to an end every 5000 years and the end is happening in just a few days. The crew finds that a comet is indeed on a collision course with the planet. What to do?
J.Y. Yang's "The Black Tides of Heaven" is the first in a fantasy novella series set in an Eastern setting. The novella follows 35 years in the life of Akeha, one of twin children born to the Protector, who is the tyrant ruler of the Protectorate. They?re the youngest of her children and not political pawns as such. They're raised in a monastery until Akeha's twin Mokoya is revealed to be a prophet and then they're whisked to the court. When they're 18 Akeha leaves. It's a bit choppy because of the quick jumps in the timeline but fascinatingly original.
JY Yang's "The Red Threds of Fortune" is a the follow-up to "the Black Tides of Heaven", set some years after the first book. The main character is Mokoya, who has lost the prophetic visions after a terrible tragedy. Very different in structure and tone, just as good as the first one.
"Night and Silence" by Seanan McGuire is the 12th book in the Toby Daye urban fantasy series and it's still going strong. I love the characters and the various fae races. This time Toby's estragned, human daugther has vanished and Toby must find her.
Only three more to go! | |
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Uber User
Posts: 456
| As in years past, I used this challenge to pick my favorite reads of the year. However, I couldn't quite narrow it down to just ten titles, so this year it's twenty - it must have been a good year! To (very belatedly!) answer your question about finishing up lists, it's something that's a long-term goal, but not a driving one. The closer I get, the less wheat and more chaff there is. Still, you never know what undiscovered gems you might uncover!
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Hi Engelbrecht,glad you had such good year. After decades out of the genre I have a long long way to go with the lists,so there are so many interesting books still there for me to explore,but,in your case, once you get to the ''chaff'' stage,and there is nothing new under the sun,its got to be more difficult.
I suffer from the inflexibility of old age,I think,I still prefer the old stuff (pre 1980. Cant believe that is almost 4 decades ago!) I happen to enjoy ''white hat'' protagonists,with a wide divide between the goodies and the villains,and in this post modern era everything is murky,often downbeat - and just not FUN.lol. I have the same problem with crime fiction,which used to be my main genre. Now I can hardly bear to read anything post 2000! What with flawed detectives,unreliable narrators,and graphic violence,.sex,and profanity it just doesnt cut it for me.Yep,I've turned into a grumpy old woman tut-tutting at the world. With a host of real life problems and issues,I really dont want to be reading too much dark stuff,I need action,adventure,pace,humour and fun characters
So my plans for 2019 is to try to complete the Nebulas and Hugos and at least 12 of the Locus..Then in 2020 I will finish them off and from then on will be able to pick and mix from the lists. I will consider my marathon journey of award winners as a fitting overview of the SF genre.I always like a time frame,an overview of any genres(and even music and film,) grounding individual items in their proper place illuminated and elucidated by their time and zeitgeist. Afraid it pains me in SF forums when I see people almost frothing at the mouth when they have read a 50s novel and complain vociferously about the mores and gender politics of the time.It was a different erafolks,get over it. Or better still just read books post 2010!
Anyhoo,may I thank everyone who has participated in the Pick N' Mix this year.We read a magnificent 746 books. Well done.
I'll be here again next year (only a few days away actually.) as soon as Dave starts setting up the 2019 challenges.
Getting very impatient for the unrolling of our new site incarnation too.
Here's hoping for an exciting WWEnd 2019. And as for the real world? Sorry,I have so little expectations there - its a crazy world. All the more reason to dive into our SF universe and all the wonders and marvels and great themes it holds!
Happy New Year,people!
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Veteran
Posts: 100
| Thanks, dustydigger! I just managed to complete my goal of 40 books!
"Searching for the Fleet" is the newest book in the Diving universe by Rusch. Sadly, I didn't like it as much as the previous books but the ending promised a lot more excitment in the books to come.
Greg Cox's "Q-Space" is the first book in a ST:TNG trilogy focusing on none other than Q and his family. Recommended for people who like Q. It ends is a big cliffhanger.
Anne Logston's "Shadow" is another first in a trilogy but it can be read as a stand-alone. Set in a fantasy world with elves and humans, it's a fun little story about Shadow, an elven thief.
Happy New Year and I hope you all have great reading adventures in 2019! (That sounds so science fictiony  ) | |
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Uber User
Posts: 456
| Dusty,
I recently read a great book - The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards - it made me think that in another life, I'd be an avid classic crime reader! You should check it out - I'm sure you've read many of them, but there might be a few gems in there for you.
It also contained some interesting bits about the Detection Club - among other things, the first president was G. K. Chesterton. The club was founded in 1930, and was apparently very exclusive - no fans allowed! It's interesting to compare the club to Science Fiction's World Con, founded in 1939, and which was very much fan-centric. I wonder what things might be like if the approaches to fandom taken by Classic Crime & Science Fiction were reversed...
Good luck with your reading this year!
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1031
Location: UK | Hi Engelbrecht.Yes I am familiar with the Edwards book. I've only read 20 of them,but recognize many more which I would love to read. Science fiction is much much better at making vintage books available (eg Gateway) but obtaining vintage crime apart from the most famous authors is much more difficult. Libraries in my area poorly represent vintage crime. In the main crime novels tend to be paperbacks to save money and once they start dropping to bits they are discarded and never replaced. I cant afford to buy many books (old wrinklies on a pension with a big family rarely have cash for book buying!) so its often very difficult to come across these old books.
Apparently Edwards' championing of vintage crime has reawakened interest in the books,some have been republished as a result,and even got on the bestseller lists,which cant be bad!
I'm sure the egalitarian,open SF community was much more helpful to keeping alive the classics than the closed shop of the Detection Club! | |
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Pick & Mix challenge 2018