# What are you reading [Jan 2017]?



## Elodan (Jan 1, 2017)

New year, new thread.

Just finished _The Expanse_, by James S. A. Corey.  Finally picked it up after watching the show.  Been a while since I've read any good space opera, and this series hit the spot.  Picked up the next book.

Reading _Liar's Bargain_ by Tim Pratt.  One of the better author's of Pathfinder fiction.  Enjoying it so far.


On the comics front I just finished the last two graphic novels in the Star Wars: Darth Vader series; _The Shu-Torun War_ (Vol 3) and _End of Games_ (Vol 4).  Really liked the series overall, Shu-Torun was a little weak.

Will be starting _Star Wars: Rebel Jail_ (Vol 3) momentarily.


----------



## Eltab (Jan 2, 2017)

working through _A Random Walk Down Wall Street_, updated edition.

waiting on _100 Best Stocks to Buy for 2017_ to show up in library (on hold).

You can probably guess that I'm going to be adjusting my I.R.A. account in mid-month.


----------



## Jhaelen (Jan 2, 2017)

I finished reading 'The Scar' by China Mieville. It took me a moment to get back into the world of Bas-Lag but then I was just as hooked as I was when reading 'Perdido Street Station'.
(As usual) There's a lot going on and there's several delightful twists in the story and plenty of mysteries that are slowly revealed to the reader. In retrospect, I think, I liked it even better than the first installment.
At the very least, it gave me a better idea of the world since it describes several locations in great detail, i.e. it has a much wider scope than just the city of New Crobuzon.

Next up will be 'Pashazade' by Jon Courtenay Grimwood for a change of genre, but I've now definitely also put 'Iron Council' (the third Bas-Lag novel) on my list of books to read.


----------



## Kramodlog (Jan 2, 2017)

I'm starting _Saturn's Children_ by Charles Stross. It is set in the same universe as _Neptune's Brood_, but both stories are unrelated. NB was awesome hard sci-fi and SC got some great reviews and was nominated for the Hugo and Locus awards. Apparently, Stross wrote masterfully from the point of a view of a slave in SC.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Jan 3, 2017)

Finally finished my re-read of the first Song of Ice and Fire novel. Crackling good stuff, though I did catch a continuity error (within a few pages, one of the Freys is referred to as both an old man and a youth).

Now I'm going from one of the slowest fantasy writers to one of the fastest, with Sanderson's Shadows of Self Mistborn novel.


----------



## RedSiegfried (Jan 3, 2017)

Just finished Skylark of Valeron by EE Doc Smith and will be moving on to Skylark Duquesne tonight.  I think I might reread the Lensman series after that.


----------



## Janx (Jan 3, 2017)

Working on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

Bit of a slow read, haven't even met Strange yet...

I spent most of the holiday working on my own novel.  up to about 70,000 words.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Jan 3, 2017)

Oof, that's an imposing book, both in size and scope, but it's definitely worth reading.



Janx said:


> Working on Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
> 
> Bit of a slow read, haven't even met Strange yet...
> 
> I spent most of the holiday working on my own novel.  up to about 70,000 words.


----------



## ArchfiendBobbie (Jan 4, 2017)

Currently reading guides on how to communicate effectively (basically, how to sound less like a jerk). My recent posts have shown I need it.


----------



## innerdude (Jan 10, 2017)

ArchfiendBobbie said:


> Currently reading guides on how to communicate effectively (basically, how to sound less like a jerk). My recent posts have shown I need it.




Yeah, ya do, ya big JERK!!!!!!     


To the subject at hand --- 

Currently reading: 

Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept series for the first time since I was a teenager. 

Just recently finished:

_Tigana_ and _Under Heaven_ by Guy Gavriel Kay. If any of you not availed yourselves of reading those two novels, you are missing out on some of the best fantasy literature of our time.


----------



## Tonguez (Jan 11, 2017)

A Providence of War by Joshua Taumoefolau

a self published  historical fiction epic that encapsulates the Tongan Maritime Empire during the reign of Tuitatui (the _real_ 11th king of Tui-Tonga) (circa a thousand years ago). The story has a solid historic base and tells a good story spanning Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and across to Rarotonga. It mixes history, fiction and fantasy upon the politics and warfare that threatens to tear the mighty Empire apart and demi-god Maui Atalanga plays a role too.

It also has a youtube trailer
[video=youtube;nSKiqceAQSc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSKiqceAQSc[/video]

I read the novelisation of Disneys Moana too and this provides a refreshing contrast on the same setting


----------



## Richards (Jan 11, 2017)

I'm reading another Richard Laymon horror novel, _After Midnight_.  This one follows a female protagonist with a hidden past through an accidental murder and the escalating consequences of the act.  I'm a hundred pages in (so not even 25% of the way through it) but I get the feeling this is all going to take place over the course of one night.

Johnathan


----------



## Blue (Jan 11, 2017)

innerdude said:


> _Tigana_ and _Under Heaven_ by Guy Gavriel Kay. If any of you not availed yourselves of reading those two novels, you are missing out on some of the best fantasy literature of our time.




I literally stopped reading the thread, went over to smile.amazon.com, ordered Under Heaven without reading a review or looking at the stars, and came back.

Though of course I've loved GGK's work for ages and Tigana is on my list of favorite novels ever.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Jan 11, 2017)

Tigana is on my list to read, one of these days...

Just finished Sanderson's Shadows of Self. Excellent work, quite enjoyable. Now I'm on to Freeman's Alexander the Great. I gave Oliver Stone's Alexander another take and got curious about the actual history.


----------



## Jhaelen (Jan 12, 2017)

Yesterday, I finished reading 'Pashazade' by Jon Courtenay Grimwood.
This was a major disappointment for me. While the setting is superficially interesting, it's just that: superficial. There's too little background information or details to create a convincing 'Alternate History'. I also don't get why this is being advertized as a mix between a dark noir and a cyberpunk novel. There's nothing cyberpunk about it at all. Sure, the (not very likable or intriguing) protagonist has an implant a few genetic modifications, but it plays almost no role in the novel. There's a child hacker, too, but she's just there to help the (thin) plot move along, not to explore the idea of a second reality in the 'matrix'.
Perhaps things get better in the sequels of this 'Arabesk trilogy', but I doubt it.

Today I started with 'Annihilation', the first part of the 'Southern Reach' trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer. Now, this seems to be a lot more promising, already: Right from the start it evokes a sense of paranoia, reminding me of Philip K. Dick or Christopher Priest. Written from the perspective of a member of an expedition into a mysterious 'area X', you immediately start to wonder about the reliability of the report...
I couldn't put it down before finishing the first part of it. Let's hope it manages to keep the tension this high!


----------



## Jhaelen (Jan 13, 2017)

... and lo and behold, I've already finished 'Annihilation'. I found it an absolutely fascinating read, alas, way too short, almost just a teaser. Anyway, the story quickly turns into something that might have been written by H.P. Lovecraft: cosmic horror at its best! Near the end, it also reminded me a bit of 'Solaris' by Stanislaw Lem.

I suppose that some readers may feel it's too derivative, but to me it's really like a 'best of' written collectively by my favorite authors. Highly recommended!
Naturally, I immediately bought the two sequels, and will continue reading right away. I'm crossing my fingers the author will not somehow ruin it all by a kind of imagined obligation to eventually explain everything that's going on here...

I think, I actually wouldn't have minded if it was only a standalone novella, delightfully mysterious as it is, leaving the reader to wonder about it evermore.


----------



## Ryujin (Jan 14, 2017)

Mat Vancil's "Hopjockey" as he releases it, one chapter at a time. He's up to chapter 4.


----------



## Kramodlog (Jan 14, 2017)

I'm half way through _Saturn's Children_ by Charles Stross. It is set in the same universe as _Neptune's Brood_, even if they are both stand alone novels. I'm enjoying it, but it isn't the best Stross novel I've read. 

Next I'm not sure if I want to read _Old Man's War_ by Scalzi, _Red Mars_ by Robinson or _The Player of Games_ by Banks. I' leaning toward Scalzi.


----------



## RedSiegfried (Jan 18, 2017)

I skipped over to the old Battletech novels I bought years ago but never read - The Jade Phoenix Trilogy.  "Way of the Clans" was passable junk, "Bloodname" was a complete waste of time (I'm actually angry that I bothered finishing it), and now I just started "Falcon Guard" which at least for the first few pages, seems tolerable.  I must be a glutton for punishment.  The less "mech pr0n" the author includes and the more he writes characters and explains how the Clans' society works, the more interesting it gets ... funny how that happens.

Side note:  I also found the old Battletech cartoon online, which, while definitely made for kids, is actually understandable now that I'm reading the novels.  I don't know how anyone could understand all the references unless you were a Battletech fan; but I guess not too many other people would watch it unless it was the only thing on right before you had to go to school back in the day.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Jan 18, 2017)

Heck, I had no idea there even was a BattleTech cartoon.

Still working my way through the biography of Alexander the Great. As I get deeper into it, you can almost hear the natural 20s being rolled, considering the enormous risks he would take in battle.



RedSiegfried said:


> Side note:  I also found the old Battletech cartoon online, which, while definitely made for kids, is actually understandable now that I'm reading the novels.  I don't know how anyone could understand all the references unless you were a Battletech fan; but I guess not too many other people would watch it unless it was the only thing on right before you had to go to school back in the day.


----------



## RedSiegfried (Jan 18, 2017)

Ralif Redhammer said:


> Heck, I had no idea there even was a BattleTech cartoon.




You can watch them on youtube, I believe.  It's not very good, but it's definitely meant to be a kids' action cartoon and not really targeted to Battletech players or fans.

Also, there were toys.


----------



## Nellisir (Jan 19, 2017)

It was a good Christmas. I've read:
_Halfway Home_ and _The Hurricane_, both by Hugh Howey;
_The Peripheral_, by William Gibson (I forget how good he is); 
_Agatha H And The Airship City_, by Phil & Kaja Foglio (very enjoyable); 
_The Three-Body Problem_, by Cixin Liu (weird; reserving judgement on it); 
_Under Heaven_, by Guy Gavriel Kay (considering I've read almost everything he's written, it's weird that I forget how much I enjoy read Kay); 
_Iroshi_, by Gary Osborne; 
_Vicious Circle_, by Mike Carey (of _Lucifer_ & _X-Men_ fame. VC is book two of his Felix Castor series, which I highly recommend for anyone interested in someone a bit better adjusted than Constantine but in a similar vein. I read books 1,3, & 4 earlier).

I started reading _The Darkest Jungle_ but didn't have a chance to finish it. Have started _The Name of the Rose_, but not sure if I'll finish it immediately (I've read it before).


----------



## Blue (Jan 19, 2017)

Okay [MENTION=85870]innerdude[/MENTION], Under Heaven just arrived today, so as soon as I finish my current novel it's up.  I see [MENTION=70]Nellisir[/MENTION] is also reading it.


----------



## MNblockhead (Jan 19, 2017)

I've been working through the classics, which I never read for some reason. 

I started near the end of last year with Robert E. Howards _Conan the Barbarian_ stories and read all of them. I enjoyed them, though I think I've read the word thew in them than I will in anything I've read or will read in my life combined. 

Next I read Jack Vance's _Dying Earth_ series and I completed all of them. 

Now I'm reading through all of Fritz Lieber's _Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser_ books. 

When I complete those I think I'll take a break from the classics and start the _Dresden Files_ next.


----------



## Jhaelen (Jan 19, 2017)

I'm almost done with Jeff VanderMeer's second installment of the 'Southern Reach' trilogy "Authority". It's unfortunately not as gripping as the first part. I still like the depth of the characters, but it doesn't reveal a lot more about the mysterious 'Area X'. Rather it's repeating most of what's already known from a different angle, from a different perspective. Let's see what the final part will bring.


----------



## innerdude (Jan 19, 2017)

Blue said:


> Okay [MENTION=85870]innerdude[/MENTION], Under Heaven just arrived today, so as soon as I finish my current novel it's up.  I see [MENTION=70]Nellisir[/MENTION] is also reading it.




Truly, I genuinely can't decide if I liked _Under Heaven_ better than _Tigana_. They're both just so excellent. If forced to decide, I might say _Under Heaven_ nudges ahead of _Tigana_ ever so slightly, but it's like comparing a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. You're going to be eminently satisfied with your experience pretty much regardless.


----------



## Nellisir (Jan 20, 2017)

innerdude said:


> Truly, I genuinely can't decide if I liked _Under Heaven_ better than _Tigana_. They're both just so excellent. If forced to decide, I might say _Under Heaven_ nudges ahead of _Tigana_ ever so slightly, but it's like comparing a Ferrari and a Lamborghini. You're going to be eminently satisfied with your experience pretty much regardless.




I liked _Under Heaven_, but better than _Tigana_? No way.

In other news, I just started _Nemesis Games_. I thought I'd read it already from the Library, but apparently that was _Cibola Burn_.

Edit: Finished _Nemesis Games_, and dug out the first 3 books from storage. I'll probably skip _Leviathan's Wake_ & read 2&3. The Expanse is a really enjoyable read, but the cast isn't exactly hard to keep track of.


----------



## Richards (Jan 21, 2017)

I just started Ed Greenwood's _Dark Vengeance_, a novel in his Niflheim series that I've never read any of before.  This is apparently a slightly different take on the dark elves, taken more from Norse mythology than from D&D drow.  We'll see how it goes....

Johnathan


----------



## closterphobia (Jan 22, 2017)

Was reading the Annotated HPL up until about Christmas, but had to put it down to get something a little fresh in there, so now reading The Secret History of Twin Peaks as of last week. Will be a brisk read though, not a very dense tome.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Jan 23, 2017)

Started reading Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Last Wish after finishing The Witcher III. I’m enjoying it so far, but I get the feeling that I’d be more than a little lost in places if I hadn’t played the videogame first.


----------



## Kramodlog (Jan 27, 2017)

I just started _Old Man's War_ by John Scalzi. It is mention so often as a great sci-fi novel, that I have to see what al the fuss is about for myself.


----------



## Nellisir (Jan 28, 2017)

Kramodlog said:


> I just started _Old Man's War_ by John Scalzi. It is mention so often as a great sci-fi novel, that I have to see what al the fuss is about for myself.




Opinion is divided.


----------



## closterphobia (Jan 28, 2017)

Every 6 years or so I seem to go back and reread the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser books and the original Elric books, great reads.

: I meant to quote MNBlocked head here in response to his post, but mucked it up


----------



## Eltab (Jan 29, 2017)

I picked up _The Force Awakens_ at the library.  Now (if I can ever find time to read it) I can find out what all the yells and cheers were about !


----------



## Kramodlog (Jan 29, 2017)

Nellisir said:


> Opinion is divided.



How so?


----------



## Kramodlog (Jan 29, 2017)

closterphobia said:


> Every 6 years or so I seem to go back and reread the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser books and the original Elric books, great reads.



Like Conan, I find these stories to be hit and miss. Some were clearly written as filler. Others are real fun. The pulp age is a fascinating period.


----------



## darjr (Jan 29, 2017)

Just started reading Margaret St. Clairs Sign of the Labrys. 

It's appendix N and I just discovered it's out in Kindle format. It's supposed to be one of those books that helped shaped the idea of dungeons in D&D.


https://www.amazon.com/Sign-Labrys-...swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1485660361&sr=8-1


----------



## Nellisir (Jan 29, 2017)

Kramodlog said:


> How so?




It's similar to the _Ready Player One_ divide. I found _Old Man's War_ pretty derivative of, and inferior to, _The Forever War_. The same applies to _Ready Player One_ and _Snowcrash_.

I might reread _Old Man's War_ someday, but I got rid of my copy so it's not going to happen for a while.


----------



## Nellisir (Jan 29, 2017)

I finished _Beasts_, by John Crowley. Not a bad book, but it never really captured me. I've been reading it on and off for months, and it's not a long book.... Also read _Caliban's War_, and have started _Abbadon's Gate_.

I started _The Doll's House_, by MJ Arlidge, and am not going to finish it. It's cliche tripe and I'm not in the mood for another nasty serial killer/kidnapper/abuser mystery with a protagonist with personal issues and crap like that.

Turns out there are at least 3 Department Q movies on Netflix though. The books are exactly the same but good, not cliche tripe, and the first two movies were great. 

I've had a few changes in my personal life (separated from my wife, basically), and I'm making bookshelves for the new apartment...which means I've started pulling books out of boxes and putting them on shelves for the first time in years. Very, very happy.
(I should point out my wife had nothing to do with the books or shelves; it was more about storage space in the house and the fact I have a lot of books. I kept unread books out, and boxed up good read books. Bad read books get sold.)


----------



## closterphobia (Jan 30, 2017)

Kramodlog said:


> Like Conan, I find these stories to be hit and miss. Some were clearly written as filler. Others are real fun. The pulp age is a fascinating period.




Totally agree on all counts. Luckily they're all pretty short, easy to skim through the clunkers.


----------



## closterphobia (Jan 30, 2017)

The Secret History of Twin Peaks did not go where I expected it to, but held my interest. It's a quasi-coffee table book though and therefore a quick read, but pretty much for the hard-core Peaks fan only.

Having put that to rest, I'm still fighting mentally to get back to the 97 pound Annotated HPL, so decided to pick up The Silmarillion, which for some reason I never bothered to read.


----------



## Jhaelen (Jan 30, 2017)

I finished 'Acceptance', the third part of the 'Southern Reach' trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer. It's better than the somewhat weak second part, but not quite as great as the first. At least the author doesn't attempt to give an explanation to everything, he's just filling in some gaps. All in all a worthy conclusion.
According to Wikipedia, the first part will also be made into a movie relatively soon. That might be really interesting (or terrible...).

Next up is 'Wool', the first part of the Silo trilogy by Hugh Howey.


----------



## Nellisir (Jan 30, 2017)

Jhaelen said:


> Next up is 'Wool', the first part of the Silo trilogy by Hugh Howey.




_Wool_ is pretty amazing.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Jan 31, 2017)

Finished the Letters of Heloise and Abelard and Sapkowski’s The Last Wish. The Letters was a fascinating view of love, faith, and belief of its era. Kinda sad to see the passion of the early letters slowly get devoured as time passed, though. 

The Last Wish was enjoyable, but it had some issues. Had I not played the videogames first, I would probably have been lost about certain things. And there’s more than a little sexism to the writing. But at other times, the stories were on-point, with great action and that distinctive eastern European cynicism.

Now it’s onto the Gesta Francorum.


----------



## Blue (Jan 31, 2017)

closterphobia said:


> Having put that to rest, I'm still fighting mentally to get back to the 97 pound Annotated HPL, so decided to pick up The Silmarillion, which for some reason I never bothered to read.




I've never read The Silmarillion, ever though I have a nice hardbound copy.  It feels like that old saw about classics:  Something everyone wanted to have read.


----------



## closterphobia (Feb 1, 2017)

Blue said:


> I've never read The Silmarillion, ever though I have a nice hardbound copy.  It feels like that old saw about classics:  Something everyone wanted to have read.




So true, "I should read that one day" probably applies to half our bookshelves. Last year I finally read the Elric novels "Fortress of the Pearl" and "The Revenge of the Rose." I bought them back when they came out in '89 and '91.


----------



## megamania (Feb 1, 2017)

"The Shard Axe" by Marsheila Rockwell.     Ok.   Eberron court case involving dwarves.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Feb 1, 2017)

I loaned Fortress of the Pearl to a friend of mine at the time before I read it, and they returned it a wreck. Spoiler alert, that person wasn’t a friend for much longer. But as a result, I’ve never been able to bring myself to read the book. 



closterphobia said:


> So true, "I should read that one day" probably applies to half our bookshelves. Last year I finally read the Elric novels "Fortress of the Pearl" and "The Revenge of the Rose." I bought them back when they came out in '89 and '91.


----------



## closterphobia (Feb 3, 2017)

Ralif Redhammer said:


> I loaned Fortress of the Pearl to a friend of mine at the time before I read it, and they returned it a wreck. Spoiler alert, that person wasn’t a friend for much longer. But as a result, I’ve never been able to bring myself to read the book.




I had a "friend" like that who destroyed my Gord the Rogue novels.


----------



## closterphobia (Feb 3, 2017)

Ralif Redhammer said:


> I loaned Fortress of the Pearl to a friend of mine at the time before I read it, and they returned it a wreck. Spoiler alert, that person wasn’t a friend for much longer. But as a result, I’ve never been able to bring myself to read the book.




It's not a bad book, but not a must read by any means.


----------



## Nellisir (Feb 3, 2017)

closterphobia said:


> I had a "friend" like that who destroyed my Gord the Rogue novels.




I have _City of Hawks_ and _Sea of Dust_ (somewhere...I think...). You're welcome to them.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Feb 3, 2017)

Gah! 

I think the worst was when I leant my brother my copy of Interview with the Vampire, and then he just let one of his friends deliberately deface it. I should yell at him again about that…



closterphobia said:


> I had a "friend" like that who destroyed my Gord the Rogue novels.


----------



## Silver Moon (Feb 3, 2017)

Reading Modules in the Pathfinder series "Reign of Winter" for an upcoming campaign


----------



## Eltab (Feb 5, 2017)

Finished _The Force Awakens_.  No new library books for a bit because I'm getting distracted from my homework.


----------



## closterphobia (Feb 6, 2017)

Nellisir said:


> I have _City of Hawks_ and _Sea of Dust_ (somewhere...I think...). You're welcome to them.




Hi Nellisir, sorry for the delayed response. I sincerely appreciate the offer, but did manege to replace the scatter of falling pages a few years after the fact. But again, thanks!


----------



## closterphobia (Feb 6, 2017)

Ralif Redhammer said:


> Gah!
> 
> I think the worst was when I leant my brother my copy of Interview with the Vampire, and then he just let one of his friends deliberately deface it. I should yell at him again about that…




Yelling or a light flogging, either would work I'm sure haha.


----------

