# What are you Reading? Debonnaire December 2019 edition



## Ralif Redhammer (Dec 2, 2019)

Finished up Feist's Magician: Master. It was okay. Decent, even. Not sure if I waited too long between reading the first and second volume, but it felt a bit muddled for me.

Next up is Okorafor's Binti: Home.


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## Janx (Dec 2, 2019)

I finished a book at the end of the month and started up Craig Johnson's latest Longmire book.  Whose title I don't recall, but it's about a wolf a leg, and a lie.


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## Nellisir (Dec 3, 2019)

Had a sleepless night last night & read _The Chinese Bell Murders_ (Robert van Gulk) and _Abhorsen_ (Garth Nix).

_The Chinese Bell Murders_ was solid, as usual for a Judge Dee book. _Abhorsen_ was...a disappointment. It very much concludes the second book. Doesn't stand on its own at all; just reads like a continuation and honestly doesn't add much. Shame. 

Started _This Alien Shore_, by CS Friedman. She's not an overly prolific author, but what I've read of hers has been good - I loved _Black Sun Rising_ when I was younger* (the Michael Whelan cover art didn't hurt).

*It's been years since I read it. I might still love it.


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## vpuigdoller (Dec 3, 2019)

The Lost Mark, of the Mark of Death Eberron series. The beginning was rough but it has gotten way better as it progressed. I'm enjoying it.


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 3, 2019)

Dark Black and Blue: The Soundgarden Story by Greg Prato.  So far so good and I'm up to chapter 12.  I dont know anything about about the author but I believe from being a fan of the band and their music that theres alot of truth to whats written.  Its not mostly a tell all, at least so far, as other band biopics Ive read.  It centers mainly on the band and their music.  It was published 9/17/19 so Im expecting it to be rather complete as Kim Thyail has recently said besides possibly finishing the album they working on before Chris Cornells death there is little to no chance of the band continuing.


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## carrot (Dec 3, 2019)

Just finished _The Elements Bond_ (book 7 of the Elemental Academy) by DK Holmberg. This has been a really hit and miss series... It was a real struggle towards the end as it lost all sense of tension, jepardy and indeed clarity.  The lead character is constantly failing to use his "magic" (or shaping) but then tries again in a slightly different way, and usually has to repeat that process a few more times until finally something happens. The first couple of times you can live with, but by the 10th time it was all getting rather tedious. It's a shame because there were some good ideas in there. Apparently there is a sequel series. I think I'll avoid that one.


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## Kramodlog (Dec 3, 2019)

Doing a re-read of _1984_ by Orwell. First thing that comes to mind is that today Winston wouldn't have a job. Algorithms would do it for him. Also, the parallels with the current surveillance capitalism and a surveillance state isn't the same. Except Maybe in China.


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## NeuroZombie (Dec 3, 2019)

The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman. It will be followed by the Next 25 years, of course.

Pretty interesting if you're a Trek fan. It tells the behind the scenes story of Trek via direct quotes from the people that were actually invloved.


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 3, 2019)

NeuroZombie said:


> The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman. It will be followed by the Next 25 years, of course.
> 
> Pretty interesting if you're a Trek fan. It tells the behind the scenes story of Trek via direct quotes from the people that were actually invloved.




Ive always heard Shatner was insufferable towards the other cast, does it say?


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## NeuroZombie (Dec 3, 2019)

It has hinted at it, but its more that he was hired to be the star of the show and he let everyone know that he was the star. The book goes more into the writers and directors, how Rodenberry handled (or mishandled, as the case may be) the show, how Gene Coon kept the show going (truly the unsung hero of Trek, IMHO) and such.


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 3, 2019)

NeuroZombie said:


> It has hinted at it, but its more that he was hired to be the star of the show and he let everyone know that he was the star. The book goes more into the writers and directors, how Rodenberry handled (or mishandled, as the case may be) the show, how Gene Coon kept the show going (truly the unsung hero of Trek, IMHO) and such.




Ive just heard things over the years is why I asked.  I havent watched the original series in probably 30 years since iit was on WPIX in the 80s...Odd Couple, Honeymooners followed by Star Trek, those timess hold a special place in my heart.


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## NeuroZombie (Dec 3, 2019)

R_J_K75 said:


> Ive just heard things over the years is why I asked. I havent watched the original series in probably 30 years since iit was on WPIX in the 80s...Odd Couple, Honeymooners followed by Star Trek, those timess hold a special place in my heart.




Yeah I've heard the same thing over the years and I am sure it was more of an issue then the book got into. The writers are in the film industry so I bet hey didn't want to get too much into it and risk alienating themselves.

I watched TOS in syndication in the late 70's early 80's as well.  My wife decided she was ready to watch ST from the begining so watched all of TOS in the last year.  We're on Season 3 of Next Gen now


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 3, 2019)

You dont see the OTS in syndication much these days, at least not here in Buffalo.  I will say that all you see now is 19 hrs of Pawn Stars, 14 hrs of Friends.  Theres not many decent TV shows after the year 2000.  Its all marathons and competition programming and not llike a good half hour or hour of the Twilight Zone.  You cant even smoke on TV anymore like Rod Serling, its a shame.


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## dragoner (Dec 4, 2019)

Just checked out the second book in Joan D Vinge's Snow Queen series, named "World's End".


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## dragoner (Dec 4, 2019)

R_J_K75 said:


> You dont see the OTS in syndication much these days, at least not here in Buffalo.




It's on the beeb here (BBC America), sort of a fancy edition with cleaned up special effects.


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 4, 2019)

dragoner said:


> Just checked out the second book in Joan D Vinge's Snow Queen series, named "World's End".




Never heard of it, why the second book?


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## dragoner (Dec 4, 2019)

R_J_K75 said:


> Never heard of it, why the second book?




I just finished the first, there are four: The Snow Queen, World's End, The Summer Queen, and Tangled Up In Blue; it's good science fiction, an Arthur C Clarke quote compares it to Dune, I don't know if I would go that far, but it's good.


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 4, 2019)

dragoner said:


> It's on the beeb here (BBC America), sort of a fancy edition with cleaned up special effects.




I dont mean to derail the thread


dragoner said:


> I just finished the first, there are four: The Snow Queen, World's End, The Summer Queen, and Tangled Up In Blue; it's good science fiction, an Arthur C Clarke quote compares it to Dune, I don't know if I would go that far, but it's good.




I tried to read Frank Herberts Dune enough times to where his writing is strange, kind of out of sorts.  But his Sons and Kevin J Anbersons Prequel to Dune were great.  I read all 6 books.


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## cbwjm (Dec 4, 2019)

I'm so close to finishing Kevin J Anderson's the dark between the stars, book 1 of the saga of shadows. I probably would have finished it last night of not for me needing sleep so I can work the next day.


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 4, 2019)

cbwjm said:


> I'm so close to finishing Kevin J Anderson's the dark between the stars, book 1 of the saga of shadows. I probably would have finished it last night of not for me needing sleep so I can work the next day.




Theres more beyond the 6 prequel books?


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## dragoner (Dec 4, 2019)

R_J_K75 said:


> I tried to read Frank Herberts Dune enough times to where his writing is strange, kind of out of sorts.  But his Sons and Kevin J Anbersons Prequel to Dune were great.  I read all 6 books.




I haven't re-read it in a while, I read up to God Emperor back in the day, then a few years back, re-read the series and continued up to Chapter House, I think. At one point I did read the book on the Butlertarian Jihad, but that was a while back, I have a friend who loved those.


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## cbwjm (Dec 4, 2019)

R_J_K75 said:


> Theres more beyond the 6 prequel books?



Six prequel books? Are you referring to the saga of seven suns because I'm really hoping I haven't missed a bunch of books in the middle...


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 4, 2019)

cbwjm said:


> Six prequel books? Are you referring to the saga of seven suns because I'm really hoping I haven't missed a bunch of books in the middle...




Dont quote me but yes theyre 6 before the original Dune "Frank Herberts" books.  In my opinion those prequels were so much more well written.


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 4, 2019)

cbwjm said:


> I'm so close to finishing Kevin J Anderson's the dark between the stars, book 1 of the saga of shadows. I probably would have finished it last night of not for me needing sleep so I can work the next day.




Didnt KJA write some Star Wars books?


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 4, 2019)

cbwjm said:


> Six prequel books? Are you referring to the saga of seven suns because I'm really hoping I haven't missed a bunch of books in the middle...




Yeah 6, the Butlerian Jihad, and then the precursor to that.  They were well worth reading.


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 4, 2019)

Its the prequel (3) books and prelude (3) books to the original Dune books.


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## cbwjm (Dec 4, 2019)

R_J_K75 said:


> Dont quote me but yes theyre 6 before the original Dune "Frank Herberts" books.  In my opinion those prequels were so much more well written.



I think I've figured out where the confusion lies, the saga of shadows and saga of seven suns are a different sci fi series that he's written. Really well written. When I was reading the saga of 7 suns I was blowing through a book a day, I had trouble putting them down.



R_J_K75 said:


> Didnt KJA write some Star Wars books?



He did, I think his star wars books are where I first came across him. It wasn't until talking with my friend that I realised that he'd also worked on Dune novels. Until then I'd always thought they were Frank Herbert only.


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 4, 2019)

cbwjm said:


> I think I've figured out where the confusion lies, the saga of shadows and saga of seven suns are a different sci fi series that he's written. Really well written. When I was reading the saga of 7 suns I was blowing through a book a day, I had trouble putting them down.
> 
> 
> He did, I think his star wars books are where I first came across him. It wasn't until talking with my friend that I realised that he'd also worked on Dune novels. Until then I'd always thought they were Frank Herbert only.




The New Jedi Order books if Im not mistaken.


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## cbwjm (Dec 4, 2019)

R_J_K75 said:


> The New Jedi Order books if Im not mistaken.



Yeah, he wrote some of the NJO books. I read quite a few of the earlier books in the series.


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## KahlessNestor (Dec 4, 2019)

vpuigdoller said:


> The Lost Mark, of the Mark of Death Eberron series. The beginning was rough but it has gotten way better as it progressed. I'm enjoying it.



I read the first two books of that, but Kindle didn't have the last book of the trilogy for some reason, so I never read it. Queen of the Mark, I think it was called?


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## KahlessNestor (Dec 4, 2019)

About halfway through _Starsight,_ the new Brandon Sanderson novel that came out last month. The best world builder out there. Also in the middle of Ben Shapiro's _The Right Side of History._


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 4, 2019)

cbwjm said:


> Yeah, he wrote some of the NJO books. I read quite a few of the earlier books in the series.




 Dont kill me for butchering this, but yeah those Yuhzon Vhong books were really good.  IIRC Didnt Troy Denning write Star By Star, or was that Vector Prime?  Both?


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 4, 2019)

dragoner said:


> I haven't re-read it in a while, I read up to God Emperor back in the day, then a few years back, re-read the series and continued up to Chapter House, I think. At one point I did read the book on the Butlertarian Jihad, but that was a while back, I have a friend who loved those.




Ive started reading the original Dune novel at least 10 times over the last 40 years and even though coming within 20 pages of the end Ive never once finished it.  Call me superstitious or nostalgic but I honestly believe that if I did it would be the death of me.  No naughty word, this is truly a credo I live my life by these days.


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## cbwjm (Dec 4, 2019)

R_J_K75 said:


> Dont kill me for butchering this, but yeah those Yuhzon Vhong books were really good. IIRC Didnt Troy Denning write Star By Star, or was that Vector Prime? Both?



It's been far too long since I've read them to recall. I must have a bunch of them in a bookshelf somewhere.


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## cbwjm (Dec 4, 2019)

cbwjm said:


> I'm so close to finishing Kevin J Anderson's the dark between the stars, book 1 of the saga of shadows. I probably would have finished it last night of not for me needing sleep so I can work the next day.



And now begins book 2.


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 4, 2019)

cbwjm said:


> It's been far too long since I've read them to recall. I must have a bunch of them in a bookshelf somewhere.




Wow I was right, Star By Star.  Good line of novels except the last one was disappointing.


cbwjm said:


> It's been far too long since I've read them to recall. I must have a bunch of them in a bookshelf somewhere.




Good novels except for the last one was garbage.


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## vpuigdoller (Dec 4, 2019)

KahlessNestor said:


> I read the first two books of that, but Kindle didn't have the last book of the trilogy for some reason, so I never read it. Queen of the Mark, I think it was called?




yah noted that!  Im also reading on kindle.  I think i will get the audiobook for the third one it is available in that format.


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## WayneLigon (Dec 5, 2019)

*Gamechanger by L.X. Beckett* - Rubi Whiting is, among other things, a legal defense person specializing in people who have run afoul of the consensus ranking system that runs the world. Since in 2070 privacy is a privilege, not a right, almost everything you do - and everything you ever did - is on view to the world 24/7/365. Socially acceptable behavior earns you credit, and visa-versa. There is a certain basic line of food, shelter, etc available to every human on the planet but to rise above that requires micro-transactions. The better your social credit, the cheaper those things are. 

Rubi's client, Luce, is in the social pits. A mere 14% rating. Even looking at his calendar means he has to sit through 5-6 ads he can't get rid of before seeing each entry. Rubi would normally help someone like him, but Luce has an extraordinary, incredible claim: someone else is responsible for his descent into the social pits. Someone who wants to silence him... for good.... by effectively drowning Luce in Dislikes. 

In a world where even slapping someone is almost impossible to get away with, someone has found a way to effectively commit murder.

Really, really amazing world-building. I just started running a Shadow of the Beanstalk campaign and already the book has changed my in-game vocabulary, inspired amazing amounts of cool cyberpunk themes that you just don't see elsewhere. Like, the gamification of jobs. One of the characters wants to be a cop but permajobs are rare, so he takes low-level policing gigs for credit, like successfully watching a warehouse all night, to each points towards higher-paying and higher-status gigs. Eventually he might earn enough points to get on the hiring rolls of a real police unit.


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## trappedslider (Dec 5, 2019)

The Grid  by Philip Kerr
During the grand opening of an ultra-modern, computer-controlled building in downtown Los Angeles, the architects discover to their horror that the computer has programmed itself to kill 

It was written in '96,so I expect it to be out dated lol.


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## Ralif Redhammer (Dec 6, 2019)

I finished Binti: Home - it's a novella with some powerful emotions in it. I also read T. Kingfisher's Minor Mage, another novella. And it was so good. It reminded me a bit of Sir Terry Pratchett, in that there's humor, but also truth and insight. And plenty of magic.

Next up, I think I'll return to the Masters of Stone and Steel Omnibus that I've been working my way through.


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## Richards (Dec 7, 2019)

I'm trying out a new author (new to me, that is), Lisa Jackson, who's apparently been on the bestseller lists multiple times with her thrillers.  This one is called "Fatal Burn" and deals with the kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl and a series of fires and murders surrounding the woman who gave her up for adoption at birth.  She and the adoptive father are trying to find her, a task made more difficult by no demands (or any communication at all) from the kidnapper.  It's okay; the story's interesting enough but the pace is dragged down my the constant time spent on the birth mother trying not to fall for the handsome adoptive father (he's a widower, she's a widow, so it's okay), but he's just so rugged, so masculine, so sensitive, so caring, etc.  I imagine it's a bunch of female fans who have elevated her novels to the bestsellers list; I'm more like, "Okay, I get it, you're having feelings for him, I don't need to be reminded about it every damn chapter!  Let's get on with the 'thriller' part of this thriller already!"

I'm about halfway through it and hoping the pace picks up.  She has left a few clues about the identity of the kidnapper and I do want to see if I pegged it correctly.  And I have another book of hers in my "to be read" pile, so I hope she turns out decent enough.  But at this point she's not on my list of authors whose works I'd specifically seek out, nor on my list of authors I'd try to avoid in future.

Johnathan


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## Janx (Dec 9, 2019)

Finished Longmire.  Working on Scott Meyer's Fight or Flight, book 4 of his Magic 2.0 series.

It's still funny, but seeing the same joke setup across characters and books might be getting old.


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## Ralif Redhammer (Dec 12, 2019)

Just started reading Fritz Leiber's Swords Against Wizardry. I have been slowly re-reading the whole Fafhrd and Grey Mouser series. Technically, book 3 was next, but my brother borrowed it a while back and can't find it. Shame.


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## Nellisir (Dec 13, 2019)

Ralif Redhammer said:


> Just started reading Fritz Leiber's Swords Against Wizardry. I have been slowly re-reading the whole Fafhrd and Grey Mouser series. Technically, book 3 was next, but my brother borrowed it a while back and can't find it. Shame.



Time for a new brother.


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## Nellisir (Dec 13, 2019)

Just read _City of Brass_, by S.A. Chakraborty.
It...did not live up to the hype. It's got good intentions and ideas, but the solid bones are buried in a steamy romance novel sauce of muscular djinni bodies, the ordinary human women (who aren't really ordinary) they're drawn to, and etc etc etc.
For the amount of praise it got, I expected more than "it was fine", but that was what I got.


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## Doc_Klueless (Dec 13, 2019)

I'm working my way through the Alphabet Murder Mysteries by Sue Grafton. Currently I'm on R is for Ricochet. My mom loves those books so she turned me on to them. I'm really, really liking them. Next is the "Number Murder" mysteries/Stephanie Plum mysteries by Janet Evanovich which she also loves.

It's really given us something pleasant to chat about.


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## Richards (Dec 13, 2019)

I'm now reading my second (and decidedly last) Lisa Jackson thriller, "Almost Dead," and while it has some interesting elements it's already (I'm 140 pages in, out of 419 total) devolving into another romance.  I think I'm going to finish this book and then strike her from my list of authors; she's far too much at the romance end of the spectrum for me; I prefer my thrillers to be more focused on the thriller part of things.

Johnathan


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## KahlessNestor (Dec 13, 2019)

Doc_Klueless said:


> I'm working my way through the Alphabet Murder Mysteries by Sue Grafton. Currently I'm on R is for Ricochet. My mom loves those books so she turned me on to them. I'm really, really liking them. Next is the "Number Murder" mysteries/Stephanie Plum mysteries by Janet Evanovich which she also loves.
> 
> It's really given us something pleasant to chat about.




I enjoy the Stephanie Plum novels. After twenty or so they can be a bit samey, but the characters are so hilarious that you can ignore that. Good balance on the romance/mystery side, too.


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## Ralif Redhammer (Dec 18, 2019)

Finished up Leiber's Swords Against Wizardry. Really enjoyed it, start to finish. The language is elegant, action-packed, sometimes wry. The climb of Stardock was gloriously tense, Lords of Quarmall like an insertion of Fafhrd and Grey Mouser into Gormenghast.

Next up is the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play script.


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## dragoner (Dec 18, 2019)

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.


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## Mallus (Dec 18, 2019)

dragoner said:


> Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.



Man, I've bounced off that as many times as I did Ulysses. So twice, I think. One day...

I just finished the Expanse novella *Auberon*, which had none of the series characters and all of the goodness you'd expect from Franck and Abraham. 

I'm in the middle of two other books: Denis Johnson's posthumously published collection of short stories *The Largesse of the Sea Maiden* -- which is fantastic so far -- and John M. Ford's old Star Trek musical comedy *How Much For Just The Planet* -- which is very silly and very smart and proof that 'canon' is something only boring people care too much about.


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## Richards (Dec 22, 2019)

I'm reading _The Worlds of Poul Anderson_, which is actually a compilation of three novels: _Planet of No Return_, _The War of Two Worlds_, and _World Without Stars_.  However, each of these "novels" is just over 100 pages each, putting them more in the "novelette" or "novella" categories, I would think.  In any case, it's interesting seeing what the author envisioned the future to be like, as these "novels" were apparently originally published in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

Johnathan


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## Jdvn1 (Dec 22, 2019)

Anyone read Black Leopard, Red Wolf? I'm trying to decide whether to read that next, or Skyward.


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## Janx (Dec 24, 2019)

Book 2 of The Hollows by Kim Harrison. It has a name, the title is clever, but alas I clicked to open it to quickly and I never see it anymore on my kindle. Kinda like cover art, I never see that stuff anymore with kindle books.


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## Ralif Redhammer (Dec 24, 2019)

I've heard lots of good things about it, and it's been on my wishlist for a while, but I've been waiting for the Kindle version to go under $15.



Jdvn1 said:


> Anyone read Black Leopard, Red Wolf? I'm trying to decide whether to read that next, or Skyward.


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## Nilbog (Dec 24, 2019)

Nellisir said:


> Just read _City of Brass_, by S.A. Chakraborty.
> It...did not live up to the hype. It's got good intentions and ideas, but the solid bones are buried in a steamy romance novel sauce of muscular djinni bodies, the ordinary human women (who aren't really ordinary) they're drawn to, and etc etc etc.
> For the amount of praise it got, I expected more than "it was fine", but that was what I got.




I feel very much the same, a wonderful setting and some good quality writing, and it got off to a great start, but as soon as they get to the aforementioned city of brass it descends into mills and boon territory with a little political intrigue thrown in.  Very much wasted potential.

I've just completed Dark Imperium  - plague war, I enjoyed it, somewhat predictable, but the writing is good and once it gets going its a nice fast paced novel, looking forward to the third instalment


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## KahlessNestor (Dec 25, 2019)

Ralif Redhammer said:


> I've heard lots of good things about it, and it's been on my wishlist for a while, but I've been waiting for the Kindle version to go under $15.




I don't know the other one, but Skyward is excellent. Anything by Brandon Sanderson is.

I just finished reading through Eberron: Rising from the Last War, and now started Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men. Nice getting back into Pratchett again. Hilarious as ever, and inspiring some worldbuilding.


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## Blue (Dec 25, 2019)

Just finished Repercussions, book 8(-ish) in the Wearing the Cape series by Marion G. Harmon. While Superhero is not my normal genre*, these books are a pleasure. The early ones did a good amount of deconstruction of what it meant to be a superhero and what it meant to the average person, and some of the supplimental stuff at the back of this added to that. 

After the diversion of Team-Ups and Crossovers, which was about Hope's growth, and Recursion, this is firmly back in the prime world line and boy does it run with it. Dresden Files level of changes and escalation happening in the world. Well done, and pretty action packed. I recommend it.

* The only other superhero book I read in 2019 was Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours by Jim Butcher.  (See, my Dresden Files reference above was not out of left field.)  While I was not familiar with the comic villain that this built from, it did a great job of introducing them and was well written.  I can't compare it to other Spidey novels - I haven't read any - but it was quite enjoyable.  Butcher does well writing snarky, quick witted characters with a bit of an offbeat sense of humor.

I'm currently reading Homeland for the first time.  It's the first Drizzt book chronologically (though I understand a trilogy was written before this that had him).  Was never really on my reading list.


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## trappedslider (Dec 25, 2019)

I just started The Andromeda Evolution by Michael Crichton, Daniel H. Wilson.  



Spoiler



*Fifty years after The Andromeda Strain made Michael Crichton a household name—and spawned a new genre, the technothriller—the threat returns, in a gripping sequel that is terrifyingly realistic and resonant.*

The Evolution is Coming.

In 1967, an extraterrestrial microbe came crashing down to Earth and nearly ended the human race. Accidental exposure to the particle—designated _The Andromeda Strain—_killed every resident of the town of Piedmont, Arizona, save for an elderly man and an infant boy. Over the next five days, a team of top scientists assigned to Project Wildfire worked valiantly to save the world from an epidemic of unimaginable proportions. In the moments before a catastrophic nuclear detonation, they succeeded.

In the ensuing decades, research on the microparticle continued. And the world thought it was safe…

Deep inside Fairchild Air Force Base, Project Eternal Vigilance has continued to watch and wait for the Andromeda Strain to reappear. On the verge of being shut down, the project has registered no activity—until now. A Brazilian terrain-mapping drone has detected a bizarre anomaly of otherworldly matter in the middle of the jungle, and, worse yet, the tell-tale chemical signature of the deadly microparticle.

With this shocking discovery, the next-generation Project Wildfire is activated, and a diverse team of experts hailing from all over the world is dispatched to investigate the potentially apocalyptic threat.

But the microbe is growing—evolving. And if the Wildfire team can’t reach the quarantine zone, enter the anomaly, and figure out how to stop it, this new Andromeda Evolution will annihilate all life as we know it.



It weaves the events of The Andromeda Strain into hidden history nicely,but one annoying thing is being remind almost all the time of what happened to the town in Arizona. Other than that so far it's good.


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## Richards (Dec 25, 2019)

I'm just starting up _XO_ by Jeffery Deaver.  It's one of his Kathryn Dance novels - she's a character who got her start in an earlier Lincoln Rhyme novel, who works with the LAPD as an expert at body language analysis.  I got it for a buck at a library book sale, and while I got a Lincoln Rhyme novel for Christmas (number 10 in his series) I'm dying to read, this one comes before it (apparently Lincoln makes an appearance), then I need to pick up number 9.

_XO_ deals with one of Kathryn's friends, a country/western singer, who's got a deranged stalker coming after her.  Oddly enough, this is the only novel I know of that has a soundtrack, as apparently there's an _XO_ CD you can purchase that has the music mentioned in the book.  (I'm not a country/western fan so the CD has absolutely no appeal to me, but it's an interesting concept.)

Johnathan


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## Richards (Dec 29, 2019)

I finished up _XO_ in three days straight and am now reading another Jeffery Deaver thriller, _The Devil's Teardrop_.  Where his Lincoln Rhyme novels deal with forensic analysis and his Kathryn Dance novels deal with analyzing body language, this one deals with Parker Kincaid, an expert at handwriting analysis.  The situation he's dealing with in the novel: in an extortion scheme, a criminal sets up a brainwashed killer to shoot crowds of people in Washington DC every four hours until his ransom demand is met or he gets the order to stop from his partner.  The mayor agrees to pay up (with tracers in the cash that will allow the FBI to track the criminal mastermind), but the guy never shows up to pick up the ransom - he was hit by a delivery van and slain in a random accident shortly after delivering his ransom note.  Now, with no way to contact the actual gunman, the only clue the FBI has is the ransom demand note itself, so Parker's brought out of retirement to learn what he can of the criminal so they can try to find his mass-murdering associate before he strikes again...and again, every four hours, indefinitely.

Johnathan


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## dragoner (Dec 29, 2019)

Finished Blood Meridian, can't recommend it to anyone, it is too gruesome and full of problematic language. Now starting Tangled Up In Blue, by Joan D Vinge, another in the Snow Queen universe.


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## KahlessNestor (Jan 1, 2020)

Finished _The Right Side of History_ by Ben Shapiro. Now reading _Monstrous Regiment_ by Terry Pratchett.


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