what are you reading?

[Nu-D]

I just read Double Star by Heinlein. It was a Hugo winner. Surprisingly, I had never read it before. My obsessive Heinlein phase, back in middle school, was mostly his more satirical later books. I never read a lot of his more “serious” work from his early years.

[Cable]

Does anyone know if Ursula Le Guin's Orsinia stuff is worth reading?

[EvilMonkeyPope]

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway is exquisite cogpunk!

[Spectral Knight]

Just started the Long Earth series by Pratchett and Baxter. Fifteen quid for all five books in the series was a steal I thought.

[Majestic]

Had a couple flights this past week, which gave me time to start and finish This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. It's a romance told almost entirely through the letters of two opposed time-travelling agents from two mutually exclusive and—to us—largely alien futures. The sort of prose this deals in would normally be a little purple for me, but in the context of this story it serves to highlight the differences in perspectives not just between the protagonists, but between the societies that spawned them and our own as readers. There's more to unpack there than mere floridity—not that there's anything wrong with floridity if that's your jam—and said floridity enhances the sort of sci-fi worldbuilding that often feels like lifeless stalling in other, lesser stories.

[das_boot]

Just starting “The Burning White” which is the final pet of the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks.

It’s a really interesting take on magic (people produce a substance called Luxin based on various colours and light they can manipulate, how it shapes their personalities etc) and then politics and raising old gods and just READ THIS. The first one is slow to start, but it’s a great series

[tokenBG1009]

Just starting “The Burning White” which is the final pet of the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks.

It’s a really interesting take on magic (people produce a substance called Luxin based on various colours and light they can manipulate, how it shapes their personalities etc) and then politics and raising old gods and just READ THIS. The first one is slow to start, but it’s a great series

I'm about 2.5 books behind at this point so I get the joy of blazing through the last half of the series.

I enjoyed the Night Angel trilogy more, but the Black Prism series is so damn good.

[MartijnB]

Had a couple flights this past week, which gave me time to start and finish This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. It's a romance told almost entirely through the letters of two opposed time-travelling agents from two mutually exclusive and—to us—largely alien futures. The sort of prose this deals in would normally be a little purple for me, but in the context of this story it serves to highlight the differences in perspectives not just between the protagonists, but between the societies that spawned them and our own as readers. There's more to unpack there than mere floridity—not that there's anything wrong with floridity if that's your jam—and said floridity enhances the sort of sci-fi worldbuilding that often feels like lifeless stalling in other, lesser stories.

... ok this sounds great, thanks for bringing it to my attention, I am so gonna look for it

[Magnus]

I enjoyed the Night Angel trilogy more, but the Black Prism series is so damn good.

Interesting, I liked Night Angel but it was also very rough in some places (expected for someone's first main work). Black Prism definitely feels more refined.

That said, I found the fourth book to be a bit of a disappointment. But I believe he originally wanted to do 4 books, and realized he should split the last one into two, so hopefully the last one ties it all up nicely. Looking forward to getting into that one after Xmas.

[Gibbering Fool]

I'm currently reading Starsight by Brandon Sanderson. I really enjoyed the first book in the series Skyward, and hadn't realised the latest book was out. I've only just started it but I'm loving the mystery they're building with creatures that live in hyperspace and why the aliens are determined to wipe out humanity

[Spectral Knight]

About 100 odd pages into John Dies at the End by David Wong, and thoroughly enjoying the blend of dark humour, horror and general cynicism. Enjoyed Wong's Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, and it's much the same in terms of hitting the spot of very funny one-liners.

[tokenBG1009]

I enjoyed the Night Angel trilogy more, but the Black Prism series is so damn good.

Interesting, I liked Night Angel but it was also very rough in some places (expected for someone's first main work). Black Prism definitely feels more refined.

That said, I found the fourth book to be a bit of a disappointment. But I believe he originally wanted to do 4 books, and realized he should split the last one into two, so hopefully the last one ties it all up nicely. Looking forward to getting into that one after Xmas.

Night Angel just hit for me. Ancient magical weapons, special abilities, sneakiness... it all resonates perfectly.

So, I'm jumping on the Witcher bandwagon. I've wanted to read them for a while now.

[Spectral Knight]

False Values. The latest in the Peter Grant series.

It's great fun - typical Rivers of London magic / formulae genus locum type stuff, but with a sinister tech twist.

Oh, and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references. So many HHGTTG references.

[EvilMonkeyPope]

How To Invent Everything nearly lives up to it's title. It's by Ryan North, of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl fame.

[Spectral Knight]

Just started The Psychology of Time Travel

[RingOtaku]

been reading during my lunch break at works some X-Files novels I got many moons ago that I haven't read in so long I forget basically all of the story. Except the nuclear bomb ghosts. That one is my favorite so far.

[Spectral Knight]

The October Man by Ben Aaronovich

This is a spin off from the Peter Grant / Rivers of London books, but with a new cast. I've mentioned in the past how much I enjoy this series usually but on this I'm really struggling. It is a new cast, set in Germany, and I'm not feeling the new main character's voice yet. Toby Winter just feels much more artificial than Peter ever did, and uses that slightly comic approach of settings in non-native English speaking places, where it is mostly all in English except for a few choice terms that reminds you it's not, like "Frau" when dealing with a female character, and references to German behaviours as if he as a character isn't German, all of which is quite unnatural and throws me off why the first person narration seems to be inconsistent in this regard.

I think there's something in the setting though, the main series's principal London setting refers to lots of locales I know very well, where this obviously doesn't, so the real world grounding of the main Rivers books is almost a given which this feels a bit removed from. I'd imagine this would be less of an issue for readers a lot less familiar with London though as both the main series and the October Man would be places not really known to them.

EDIT: I should add on completion that actually it turned out to be a lot better than first impressions, once the scene setting was complete and the case was in full flow. It was an awkward few first chapters though.

[tokenBG1009]

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher.

It's been an extremely slow go as I haven't had much motivation to even sit and read lately, or listen in this case, but I'm loving it all the same.

[ev82]

I just finised ready The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Its a Hunger Games prequil and I enjoyed it alot. Next up is Ready Player One.

[das_boot]

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher.

It's been an extremely slow go as I haven't had much motivation to even sit and read lately, or listen in this case, but I'm loving it all the same.

TOKEN YOU READ DRESDEN

So glad we have a second novel this year after a LONG dry spell. This felt like a total return to form for Butcher after a couple of “meh” entries in the series, this is back to feeling like it fills the void left in the universe with the end of anything Buffy related that’s actually good.

[tokenBG1009]

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher.

It's been an extremely slow go as I haven't had much motivation to even sit and read lately, or listen in this case, but I'm loving it all the same.

TOKEN YOU READ DRESDEN

So glad we have a second novel this year after a LONG dry spell. This felt like a total return to form for Butcher after a couple of “meh” entries in the series, this is back to feeling like it fills the void left in the universe with the end of anything Buffy related that’s actually good.

Ayyyy!

It felt good to return to Chicago but I will say this felt very much like half a book. While I still enjoyed it I look forward to a reread write before Battle Ground when the story will hopefully feel more complete.

(I am now reading Shadows Rising the new World of Warcraft book by Madeline Roux)

[medium13]

I just finished "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen and I wanted to write a quick note about it. It seems to be a quite popular novel, as I see copies regularly. It Is oddly endearing, witting, and humorously scathing. However, I haven't seen a book so unapologetically adopt the position that the human condition is one of mitigating misery to the extent you can and really only being able to do so with the benefit of hindsight. The character work is fantastic and I had a few audible gasp moments.

[EvilMonkeyPope]

Since I don’t know if or when Barkskins will resume, I got Annie Prolux’s novel from the library. ‘Tis quite like a James Mitchner book. It turns out that, despite having plenty of material to work from, 90% of the TV series wasn’t in the book. I really wanted to learn more about Monsieur Claude Trepagny’s sky-table! Whilst reading Barkskins on a rocking chair, a black beast leapt onto my lap. I had to rub her tummy with one hand & hold the hefty hardback aloft with the other. This forced me to learn how to turn pages with my nose!

[das_boot]

So, I’m about half way through Battle Ground (the second Dresden Files book this year) and just... no spoilers but

Spoiler: show

I’ve had to walk away for a second because I absolutely wasn’t ready.

[tokenBG1009]

I'm about a quarter of the way through currently and I can only imagine what's coming.

I do know Mr Butcher is tenderly stoking my love of the Batman/Catwoman dynamic though.