Started The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson, 3rd book in the 2nd era of Mistborn.
It’s fun to read the antics of Wayne. Probably the most fun character in the book.
What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?
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I finished What lies between us, by John Marrs. It was a great psychological thriller with some unexpected twists. I enjoyed it very much, a great reading.
For now I read a book in French, Le manuscrit inachevé, by Franck Thilliez. It’s also a great thriller (with a totally different kind), I’m halfway into it.
Reading the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb. I’m a few chapters into the second book and still enjoying it.
I finished reading Book one of the Bounty Hunter Wars (Star Wars) and knee deep in “Asimovs Mystery’s” a short story collection from 1968. It includes his first ever story, but what I want to point out is this
Always interesting to see how our information and therefore how narrative are written has changed through the years.
In this story, Mercury always being in the dark was the clue. The killer left film outside a window, and the assumption was anyone with regular light times would not have made that mistake. So the whole story point would be lost if updated.
When I’m done this it’ll be to book two of the Bounty Hunter Wars, which so far has revolved around Boba Fett and Dengar after episode 6. So I’m hoping maybe there will be some Book of Boba Fett lore in this trilogy.
Heh, that happens in sci-fi often enough, specially older written ones that happened in “near future”, but it’s interesting to see the author’s perspective on it.
Cage of Souls - Adrian Tchaikovsky
GoodreadsSet in the (presumably) distant future earth where the sun is dying and humanity has pretty much given up about it, it is a story about one man’s time in an isolated prison / penal colony, and how he got there. At least so far that’s what it has been about.
I really like this author’s sci-fi books, but disliked his fantasy books, and this one kinda blurs the edges between the two. So far I’ve liked it.
Currently reading Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold. I’m glad I’m reading it after The Curse of Chalion, since that provides a lot of context the novella format doesn’t have space for.
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Finished The Ways of Khrem by D. Nathan Hilliard (secondary world urban fantasy mystery adventure novella collection) | bingo: short HM, x of y, steppin’ up HM
A master thief turned honest bookseller is strongarmed into helping a Captain of the Watch solve cases.
At first I was kind of whelmed by this, as the world and characters felt very generic (maybe a nod to classic stuff I haven’t read?); nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed it by the end. I would have put a sequel on my TBR, except there isn’t one. D:
Finished “a conventional boy” by Charles Stross. It was fine, but I wish he would just publish either novels or novella’s, but not three stories in one book. Now reading “the sacred cut” by David Hewson. I read the first two book in this series years ago when they were published, and decided to follow up on it. Nice books if you’re into detectives and also like the city of Rome.
Taking a second shot at The Brothers Karamazov.
The first time I cracked it open I had just finished Moby Dick and it was just too arduous. I’m coming back to it now off the heels of various more digestible books and am enjoying it much more now as a result. I love the characters and th setting and plot are enticing to the max!
Had a hard time getting into the brothers my first go around as well. It’s just soo fucking long and so rich that you really can pick apart any passage so I kinda got lost somewhere during a reading slump. Let us know how you liked it once you’re done!
Blasted through Skyward and will probably finish Starsight tonight, enjoying it way too much. My first reading of any Sanderson and will probably check out Mistborn after this series. Trying to catch up on all the good quality SF/F released in the past decade or so!
Skyward series is pretty good. The first book in sequel series is coming out next year. Its written by Janci Petterson, who co-wrote the novellas in the series.
Mistborn is completely different, and one of Sanderson’s first work, but still highly recommended.
Just finished Mikhail Bulgakovs Heart of a Dog. I don’t really know what to think if this. It’s kinda great but also kinda hard to judge because of my lack of knowledge of the cultural and historical background. This makes the satirical elements a lot harder to understand. I liked it though. It has a lot of similarities with Frankenstein, Faust or the Physicists in the questions it asks, paired with commentary on the ideal soviet citizen. The story is about a scientist, who implants some organs of a lowlife human into a dog, which transforms the dog into a human. Chaos ensues. Overall I’d recommend it, it’s a short read.
Just finished Martyr! and now I’m reading Neuromancer.
Martyr! was good, though I didn’t really enjoy the last couple chapters. It felt rushed to meet a deadline.
I’m only about 20% through Neuromancer. It’s good so far. Sci-fi is my go to.
That book is overrated imo. Some of the prose is clearly geared towards a young modern audience in a way I found grating.
I also found the ending both unsatisfying and unsurprising and felt that the protagonist got off to his flaws as opposed to confronting them.
I’m constantly recommending Neuromancer. Great read.
I just got The Impossible Fortune ebook from the library. It’s the fifth book in The Thursday Murder Club series, and I’ve enjoyed the previous books in the series, so I’m looking forward to it.
I just finished Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil, Oliver Darkshire, which was pretty enjoyable. Overall it leaned very into the satire side of fantasy. Felt nicely inspired by Pratchett. Lots of footnotes. My only criticism is that the plot felt wobbly, without real direction. Even though, I’d recommend it!
Started What Feasts at Night, T. Kingfisher which I’m enjoying so far.
Listening to an audiobook of Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov (probably the 5th time since I first got it). Perfect for escaping reality when doing something boring. The universe Asimov built is very immersive and his sequel books to the Foundation trilogy also tie into some of his other serialised stories. He was a true master of Science Fiction and his work should always remain relevant, as it doesn’t show its age after more than half a century already from when it was first written (excepting all the smoking depicted) :D
Reading two books: one is the Two Journeys series by Clemens P. Suter, the other Empire of the Summer Moon by SC Gwynne. The first is adventure / sci-fi , the second a history book about the Comanches.
Just finished Road to Ruin by Hana Lee. That was a fun read and I’ll be giving that book to a friend that I know will enjoy it.
Currently reading Star Trek Voyager Ghost of a Chance by Mark A Garland and Charles McGaw. I’ve been picking up some ST books at the thrift store when I see them so I can read them between heavier books. I was always more of a TNG and DS9 gal, but I am enjoying this book.
