# What are you reading? (August 2017)



## Kramodlog (Aug 1, 2017)

I'm waiting for _Infomocracy_ by Malka Ann Older to arrive by mail. I do not like ereaders and I want a physical copy that I can keep and lend. 

Anyway, I'm really curious to read about direct democracy. 

"It's been twenty years and two election cycles since Information, a powerful search engine monopoly, pioneered the switch from warring nation-states to global micro-democracy. The corporate coalition party Heritage has won the last two elections. With another election on the horizon, the Supermajority is in tight contention, and everything's on the line.

With power comes corruption. For Ken, this is his chance to do right by the idealistic Policy1st party and get a steady job in the big leagues. For Domaine, the election represents another staging ground in his ongoing struggle against the _pax democratica. For Mishima, a dangerous Information operative, the whole situation is a puzzle: how do you keep the wheels running on the biggest political experiment of all time, when so many have so much to gain?_"


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Aug 1, 2017)

I’ve heard good things about Infomocracy. Tor has generally been doing awesome stuff of late.

I’ve generally been opposed to e-readers, but am seriously considering picking one up. Mostly so that I don’t have to lug those 700+ page wrist-crackers around on my commute. You know, like the next Song of Ice and Fire book and the last Kingkiller Chronicles one… 



Kramodlog said:


> I'm waiting for _Infomocracy_ by Malka Ann Older to arrive by mail. I do not like ereaders and I want a physical copy that I can keep and lend.


----------



## Blue (Aug 1, 2017)

Just finished the screenplay for "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child".  Quick read.  I liked it, but my 10y.o. who likes Harry Potter did not.  I loved their portrayal of Draco Malfoy, but I thought they made Ron much more of a doofus then in the original books. I wonder if you needed to be more over-the-top to present in a theater medium instead of normal prose.

6/10 as part of the series - it builds off the existing books and doesn't hold it's own without them as background.


----------



## Yaztromo (Aug 1, 2017)

Gabriel Garcia Marquez: one hundred years of solitude, this time in the original language.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Aug 3, 2017)

Riordan’s Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer was fine reading. Not great, but enjoyable. I’m finding that relentlessly snarky protagonists are growing old for me, though. Too much it seems like the character becomes just a conduit for the author’s jokes, at the expense of actual characterization. 

Still, the idea of Thor being a huge Game of Thrones fan was pretty entertaining.

Now I'm reading Sir Pratchett's Eric. The Rincewind tales aren’t my favorite, but I never pass up a Discworld novel when I see one in a used book store.


----------



## Zaukrie (Aug 3, 2017)

The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson.


----------



## carrot (Aug 4, 2017)

Currently working my way through The Magicians series by Lev Grossman. It's got its moments, but I'm finding it a bit too inconsistent in internal logic, plot direction and character motives. Its proving a little too easily putdownable.

Fortunately I have the next book in Michael J Sullivan's Legends of the first empire to move on to...


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Aug 4, 2017)

I enjoyed The Magicians series, moreso after the first book. But I think it gets into trouble when it tries to have its cake and eat it to. Trying to be a post-modern gritty fantasy while also tapping the sense of wonder that it is also trying to deconstruct doesn’t always work.



carrot said:


> Currently working my way through The Magicians series by Lev Grossman. It's got its moments, but I'm finding it a bit too inconsistent in internal logic, plot direction and character motives. Its proving a little too easily putdownable.
> 
> Fortunately I have the next book in Michael J Sullivan's Legends of the first empire to move on to...


----------



## trappedslider (Aug 5, 2017)

Ralif Redhammer said:


> Riordan’s Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer was fine reading. Not great, but enjoyable. I’m finding that relentlessly snarky protagonists are growing old for me, though. .




Haven't been around a few teenagers recently, have you?

I'm just about to finish up RPO and based on twiter comments and a name check in the book,i've already figured out one one big change.


----------



## Elodan (Aug 6, 2017)

Updated with everything since my post in the July thread.

Finished reading _Ready Player One_ by Ernest Kline. Decent read, a little too much tell not show.  Sections read like a reference manual to the 80s.

The _Key to the Coward's Spell_ by Alex Bledsoe (an Eddie LaCrosse short story).  Really good, made me want the next book in the series (assuming he's writing one).

_Catalyst _by James Luceno.  A Rogue One prequel that tells the story of how the Ersos get involved with Krennic in the first place.  Decent read but nothing special.

_Gears of Faith_ by Gabrielle Harbowy.  A Pathfinder tales novel that was rather unfocused and didn't have much of a fantasy feel to it.  Read more like a romance novel.
_
Moon Wreck: First Contact_ by Raymond L Weil.  Picked this up as a freebie on my Kindle a while back.  Had to stop about halfway in.  It read like a sixth grader's essay.  Grammer was too distracting.

Read a bunch of sample chapters on the Kindle but didn't pick anything up.

Now reading _Dark Intelligence_ by Neal Asher.  I almost put the book down because the first few chapters had too much technobabble.  It got more interesting but it's back to the point that I'm contemplating putting it back down.

I'm also reading the lore sections of the Sword Coast Adventure's Guide (read the cruch stuff a while back).  They did a really nice job with it.  I like the book a lot.


Feels like it's been a long time since I've read a really good science fiction or fantasy novel.


----------



## Richards (Aug 6, 2017)

So I found myself yesterday at an airport at 0530 for a flight that was to leave at 0759, only to find out the plane hadn't come in the previous evening - and the earliest flight home for me started boarding in a scant 11 hours.  I had already checked out of my hotel and turned in my rental car, so I had pretty much a full day to look forward to at the airport. 

Fortunately, I had two novels with me, each about 550 pages long.

The first was _Darwin's Radio_ by Greg Bear, of which I had already gotten through the first 200 pages earlier in the week.  Despite it being a Nebula Award winner, it was an excruciatingly dull read.  It had an interesting premise but boring, flat characters; a tedious pace; and an unfinished ending that left me not in the least bit interested in hunting up the sequel, _Darwin's Children_.  I can't recommend it.

Fortunately, the next book was _Desperation_ by Stephen King.  I devoured 350 pages of it before I had to give up reading for the day, because I was yawning nonstop and my eyes kept watering.  (Fortunately, I was in the last hour of my last flight for the day by then.)  But it's a decidedly creepy book, with interesting characters and a plot that I can't wait to see resolved.  I'd put it up there among King's creepiest novels, although it's rather like _The Last Stand_ in that it's setting up a "good vs. evil" confrontation between the main characters.  This one I would heartily recommend.

The fact that my 11-hour airport ordeal had me looking forward to finally reaching "desperation" is not lost on me.

Johnathan


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Aug 7, 2017)

Heh, no, I have not.

Finished Eric, and enjoyed it. Now I’m onto First Watch, by Dale Lucas, about a human and dwarf in the city guard.



trappedslider said:


> Haven't been around a few teenagers recently, have you?


----------



## trappedslider (Aug 7, 2017)

Going to start robopocalypse later today


----------



## megamania (Aug 9, 2017)

Onto book 5 of The Dark Tower by King.    Such a commitment of my reading time.


----------



## Blue (Aug 9, 2017)

I don't remember when or why I picked it up, but I had Rebel Fleet by B.V. Larson.  I finished it up only because I'm a completionist and it was a quick read.  The characters were one dimensional with the protagonist being a real Marty Stu.  The late middle picked up to about 2.5 stars, but the first half of the book and the end didn't get that high.  It had a some interesting setting-build ideas that I enjoyed, and the ever-present action and fast-talk sequences were done well enough, though lacked tension because you knew the protagonist would succeed without much cost.

It has made me want to read some decent military science fiction or military space opera with good space battle scenes.  A guilty pleasure, like the Honor Harringon series.  Yes, HH is even more of a Mary Sue but is much more entertainingly written and does fail and/or have to pay costs (at least until the later books in the series).  Any suggestions out there?

Actually, I wouldn't mind expanding into wet-navy fiction with good ship battles as well if you have suggestions, either modern or historical.


----------



## Mallus (Aug 9, 2017)

I just finished the latest Expanse novella "Strange Dogs". On its own it's a nifty little SF story told from the point of view of a child colonist on one of the colony worlds beyond the Ring gates. 

As part of the large series, it offers the best evidence yet there might be a happy ending in store by the end of book 9, which I appreciate greatly after all the spectacular misery in the events of books 5 & 6.


----------



## Flexor the Mighty! (Aug 10, 2017)

The 1st Thieves World collection,  Sanctuary by Robert L Asprin.  I love this old 70's fantasy.


----------



## Mallus (Aug 11, 2017)

Flexor the Mighty! said:


> The 1st Thieves World collection,  Sanctuary by Robert L Asprin.  I love this old 70's fantasy.



I feel the sudden need to revisit Asprin's Myth Adventures. I love old 1970s fantasy, too.


----------



## Flexor the Mighty! (Aug 11, 2017)

Mallus said:


> I feel the sudden need to revisit Asprin's Myth Adventures. I love old 1970s fantasy, too.




And older.  I don't find too much modern fantasy that has the vibe I get from stories like this, Fafhrd & Gray Mouser, etc.  Nothing epic about it, no worlds saved.  Just some people trying for riches and/or glory in a crazy fantasy world.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Aug 11, 2017)

My brother and I grew up reading Asprin’s Thieves World and Myth series. The collaborative aspects of Thieves World are all the more impressive for being done in an age before emailed attachments and online file shares.  

Just finished First Watch. Really enjoyed the buddy-cop by way of fantasy story. Now I’m reading Infidel, the second book in Kameron Hurley’s Bel Dame Apocrypha trilogy.



Flexor the Mighty! said:


> The 1st Thieves World collection,  Sanctuary by Robert L Asprin.  I love this old 70's fantasy.


----------



## Blue (Aug 13, 2017)

So I'm reading and enjoying REAMDE by Neal Stephenson, and had a moment of clarity that his describing internet technologies and ransomware is very similar to Tom Clancy's technical descriptions.  Now, for REAMDE so far it's been things I'm intimately familiar with, unlike Clancy, but that could easily be swapped by an avid but older reader of Jane's.

While I enjoy it, it does make it more verbose and exposition-y.  Michael Crichton tends to do it as well, but with whatever flavor of boundary-pushing tech he has hung his latest book on and less on real-world.  Compare to Larry Niven (and *) who can do it a little bit, but more often let the reader just pick it up or not, not getting into the details as professorally except in rare cases like Bowl of Heaven/Shipstar.

What are your thoughts when an author's story requires technical underpinnings and they take the pages to go into detail instead of technobabble, but at the cost of some pacing and more tell vs. show?


----------



## Diem (Aug 13, 2017)

I'm reading Raven's Shadow series by Anthony Ryan. I'm currently on the 3rd book, Queen of Fire. 

I highly recommend. 

Sent from my SM-J320FN using EN World mobile app


----------



## Kramodlog (Aug 14, 2017)

Blue said:


> So I'm reading and enjoying REAMDE by Neal Stephenson, and had a moment of clarity that his describing internet technologies and ransomware is very similar to Tom Clancy's technical descriptions.  Now, for REAMDE so far it's been things I'm intimately familiar with, unlike Clancy, but that could easily be swapped by an avid but older reader of Jane's.
> 
> While I enjoy it, it does make it more verbose and exposition-y.  Michael Crichton tends to do it as well, but with whatever flavor of boundary-pushing tech he has hung his latest book on and less on real-world.  Compare to Larry Niven (and *) who can do it a little bit, but more often let the reader just pick it up or not, not getting into the details as professorally except in rare cases like Bowl of Heaven/Shipstar.
> 
> What are your thoughts when an author's story requires technical underpinnings and they take the pages to go into detail instead of technobabble, but at the cost of some pacing and more tell vs. show?



I prefere plot details and explanations to emotions, character driven stories or fast paced action in my sci-fi novels. I read them for the thought experiments, not bevause I want to know how it feels to be alone in space. I believe this is why like authors like Arthur C. Clarke.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Aug 14, 2017)

Like any other part of a novel, I think it’s fine as long as it either moves the plot along or develops a character. If it’s just an information blast at the reader, then that’s getting a little too close to telling, not showing. 

For an example on the fantasy side, look at Rothfuss’ magical system of sympathy. At the university, it’d be all too easy to have a professor just drone on, as can happen in real life. We learn about it as the main character does. Gaining those powers opens up new plot possibilities for Kvothe. And it also shows that reckless side of his. 



Blue said:


> What are your thoughts when an author's story requires technical underpinnings and they take the pages to go into detail instead of technobabble, but at the cost of some pacing and more tell vs. show?


----------



## Zaukrie (Aug 16, 2017)

Just finished Preludes and Nocturnes. Darker than what I usually read, but I enjoyed it. Should I continue?


----------



## Nellisir (Aug 17, 2017)

I've been moving and travelling for work, so everything is topsy-turvy. I did read High Fidelity (quite good), the Shades of Magic series by VE Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic/A Gatherings of Shadows/A Conjuring of Light), and Fellside by M R Carey. Moved on to Years best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozios, a perennial favorite.

Intended to read The Boy on the Bridge, or something called The Nightengale (Nightingale?), but haven't.


----------



## Mallus (Aug 17, 2017)

Zaukrie said:


> Just finished Preludes and Nocturnes. Darker than what I usually read, but I enjoyed it. Should I continue?



The first Sandman collection? "The Dolls House" is next and it's some of the best work Gaiman's done. Prolly my favorite part of Sandman.


----------



## Zaukrie (Aug 17, 2017)

Mallus said:


> The first Sandman collection? "The Dolls House" is next and it's some of the best work Gaiman's done. Prolly my favorite part of Sandman.



Yes. Thanks


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Aug 18, 2017)

I have fond memories of the Sandman series (and early 90s Vertigo in general).

Just finished Kameron Hurley’s Infidel. Good stuff indeed. Love the world-building.

Now I’m reading the second Witcher short story collection, Sword of Destiny. I thought the first one was okay, but am hoping that this one will be an improvement.


----------



## Kramodlog (Aug 21, 2017)

_Too like the lightning_ by Ada Palmer is a very demanding read, but it is very rewarding. I'm not finished yet, but I highly recommend it just for the world building.


----------



## Blue (Aug 21, 2017)

Just finished REAMDE by Neal Stephenson.  Quite enjoyable though two flaws.  First is the incredible amount of coincidences.  The second is that after a while the non-stop action on such a massive page-count novel was wearing.  Still good, I'll reread in a few years.  7/10.

Next up is my preorder, The Stone Sky (last of N.K.Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy).  The first and second books won back-to-back Hugo awards for Best Novel, which was last done back in 91/92.


----------



## Nellisir (Aug 23, 2017)

Blue said:


> Just finished REAMDE by Neal Stephenson.  Quite enjoyable though two flaws.  First is the incredible amount of coincidences.  The second is that after a while the non-stop action on such a massive page-count novel was wearing.  Still good, I'll reread in a few years.  7/10.
> 
> Next up is my preorder, The Stone Sky (last of N.K.Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy).  The first and second books won back-to-back Hugo awards for Best Novel, which was last done back in 91/92.




Oooo!  It's out?  I know what I'm ordering tomorrow.


----------



## Kaodi (Aug 24, 2017)

I have my first book to report on in a while: I Am Malala. Just finished reading it.


----------



## Kramodlog (Aug 25, 2017)

Finished _Too like the Lightning_. It was very well writen, Palmer is brilliant and she created a rich world. The only disppointment was how little she had to say about censorphip of religion and genders in the future she created. 

I've starte _Debt: The First 5,000 years_. It is on debt as an economic object, but also as a cultural and historical object. The premise is that debt can be erased without dire consequences. Sounds fun.


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Aug 25, 2017)

Finished reading The Sword of Destiny, the second Witcher short story collection. I liked it more than the first one, though I still have some issues with the writing.

Now I’m starting Robert Jordan’s The Eye of the World. I read it years ago, but barely remember much of it. I’ve been in the mood for a sprawling epic fantasy, and The Wheel of Time certainly fits that bill, and I only got two books into it prior.

Hell has also frozen over, as I’m reading it on a Kindle. I just picked one up for the express purpose of not having to lug around big heavy wristcrackers like A Song of Ice and Fire and the Kingkiller Chronicles. You know, if the next ones ever come out…


----------



## Zaukrie (Aug 25, 2017)

Finished The Broken Sword. Not bad. Not my favorite book, but it had some good parts for sure. I appreciated the outlook of the female elf Lady.


----------



## Blue (Aug 25, 2017)

So I am actually holding off on The Stone Sky, I've got some travel coming up and keeping it for that.

I mentioned earlier in the month that military SF is a guilt pleasure.  I'm rereading Weber's Dahak trilogy.  Mutineer's Moon, The Armageddon Inheritance, and Heirs of Empire.  It's fun reading; nothing to write home about as Great Works of Literature(tm), but more of a lazy afternoon read.  A bit lighter and handwave-y about the military then some of his other works like his Starfire "series".

Again, any good recommendations out there for space navel warfare?


----------



## Blue (Aug 25, 2017)

Ralif Redhammer said:


> Now I’m starting Robert Jordan’s The Eye of the World. I read it years ago, but barely remember much of it. I’ve been in the mood for a sprawling epic fantasy, and The Wheel of Time certainly fits that bill, and I only got two books into it prior.




When they were coming out I had read up to 7 or 8, occasionally re-reading everything up to the newest book.  But the later books seemed to bog down and I fell behind, and then he died.

With the news of Sanderson I waited for that book, which eventually became three, to be out, then bought all the rest and read them all from start to finish.

It was a large undertaking.  That's a lot of pages to be in a world.  I ended up reading other books at the same time.  I don't want to color your perceptions beyond that, which should be evident that it's long.


----------



## Richards (Aug 26, 2017)

I'm reading _Mind Catcher_ by John Darnton.  It's about a brilliant but egotistical neurosurgeon and a brilliant but egotistical computer specialist working together to transfer a brain-damaged boy's mind into a computer, where he'll survive as a body-less intelligence.  It's well written, but it's taking kind of a long time to get to the point where the transition to computer intelligence actually occurs.  Part II, "The Operation," doesn't finish up until over 250 pages in.  (Fortunately, there are something like another 200 pages after that point - but let's go already!)

Johnathan


----------



## Nellisir (Aug 26, 2017)

_The Stone Sky_ and _The Boy On The Bridge_ are both set to be delivered tomorrow.

I, of course, will be on my way to Connecticut for two days.

<sigh>


----------



## Ralif Redhammer (Aug 28, 2017)

I figure that if I did the Malazan Book of the Fallen series, I can do the Wheel of Time. The first time I tried, the series was yet-unfinished and still going, and I didn’t want too many of those at one time. 

But I’m sure I will need some palate cleanser books in there to spice things up.




Blue said:


> When they were coming out I had read up to 7 or 8, occasionally re-reading everything up to the newest book.  But the later books seemed to bog down and I fell behind, and then he died.
> 
> With the news of Sanderson I waited for that book, which eventually became three, to be out, then bought all the rest and read them all from start to finish.
> 
> It was a large undertaking.  That's a lot of pages to be in a world.  I ended up reading other books at the same time.  I don't want to color your perceptions beyond that, which should be evident that it's long.


----------



## Richards (Aug 31, 2017)

I finished _Mind Catcher_ - not recommended.  Now I'm reading _Quantum Night_ by Robert J. Sawyer, and it's been a great read thus far.  (I'm about halfway through it.)  It deals with scientific ways of determining psychopathy/sociopathy, tied into the main character who's missing half a year of memories.

Johnathan


----------



## Zaukrie (Sep 1, 2017)

Finished The Fuller's Apprentice. Good light fantasy. Predictable and comfortable in spots, but well imagined. I would recommend it, especially for the Kindle price.


----------

