What we're reading, the SFF edition

Finished Legend by David Gemmell. I'd never read anything by him, so I figured I should. Overall, it was a good story with plenty of action, but the head hopping in it drove me nuts. He'd switch from one character to another, often in a different location, with no warning. I still enjoyed it, but this kept me from really enjoying it.

Well, the last book I read (I think) was Always Forever by Mark Chadbourn. It is book three from the Age of Misrule trilogy.

I was very impressed with Mr. Chadbourn's style overall. It was engaging, and although the story does switch perspective often among the five heroes (and sometimes the villains) he is good about the transition between views.

The story is nothing short of epic and rides a fine line along the edge of the normal fantasy that is my bread and butter. However, I found I had to read the trilogy for its similarities to a trilogy I nearly completed in high school (tragic story... not the one I wrote, the story of "nearly completed").

I most certainly recommend the series and intend to read the companion trilogies to the work. My brother actually recommended the series to me and he is the cautionary "writer that doesn't read enough." Given that inconsistency, I knew the books had to be a good read. I was not disappointed.

Some of Keith Laumer's Retief stories.

Laumer's a favorite of mine, and his Retief stories are hilarious. A bit dated, since a lot of the humor (Retief is a galactic diplomat-at-arms) is Cold War era, but a lot still works. Nothing deep, not a ton of character development, just good plain fun. Pulled them off the shelf because I've got an idea for a couple short-shorts with a similar tone.

I'm reading The Black Prism, by Brent Weeks. The magic system . . . wow. Very detailed, very impressive, but I'm bored with it. The story, however is intriguing, and I want to know all about Gavin and Dazen, so I keep picking the book up again and reading on. But this is a series that I don't think I will continue with unless the magic stuff lightens up very soon.

In this book I notice a couple of thing in Weeks' writing that I don't remember seeing in the Night Angel Trilogy. He doesn't just say someone opened the door. The pages are full of: . . . put one foot in front of the other and walked across the room, reached out, put his hand on the latch, pushed down, and pulled the door. (That is not a quote, just a bad example.) And another thing I see is him using the POV character's name over, and over, and over again — even when there is only one person in the scene — like he has an aversion to pronouns.

Anyway, I know a lot of folks love detailed magic systems, and I'm not criticizing that. He has certainly done a fine job of writing it. Me, I prefer simple magic and getting on with the story. You know, a little finger wiggling and off ya go.

WriteMinded said:

I'm reading The Black Prism, by Brent Weeks. The magic system . . . wow. Very detailed, very impressive, but I'm bored with it. The story, however is intriguing, and I want to know all about Gavin and Dazen, so I keep picking the book up again and reading on. But this is a series that I don't think I will continue with unless the magic stuff lightens up very soon.

In this book I notice a couple of thing in Weeks' writing that I don't remember seeing in the Night Angel Trilogy. He doesn't just say someone opened the door. The pages are full of: . . . put one foot in front of the other and walked across the room, reached out, put his hand on the latch, pushed down, and pulled the door. (That is not a quote, just a bad example.) And another thing I see is him using the POV character's name over, and over, and over again — even when there is only one person in the scene — like he has an aversion to pronouns.

Anyway, I know a lot of folks love detailed magic systems, and I'm not criticizing that. He has certainly done a fine job of writing it. Me, I prefer simple magic and getting on with the story. You know, a little finger wiggling and off ya go.

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Yeah, the magic system is a bit of an adjustment at first. Once it's established, though, he doesn't spend as much time on it (though there is some magic school time in book two that I found a little tedious).

I liked Night Angel better, but I feel like his Lightbringer series is a deeper story with more potential.

Reading volume 2 of Foundations of Futures Studies by Wendell Bell. This is a textbook for what used to be called futurology; these days they prefer "futures studies". The first volume alternated between extremely interesting (like the section on actual predictive techniques) and the sort of philosophy that, while I am sure is very interesting to philosophers and is, in its own way, very important, is nonetheless not what I think of when I think "Futures Studies" (what is the precise difference between should, would, and could?). Volume 1 had just enough flashes of interesting to keep me reading.

Volume 2 is very different. It's about the ethics of futures studies, specifically, if we want to figure out how to make society better, we need to define what "better" means in this context. So far it's actually pretty interesting - I like ethical philosophy - but again, not really what I think of when I think "futures studies".

Finished Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling. Overall, this was an enjoyable read with characters I liked. It didn't do anything revolutionary, but it was a good story. For those who are interested, I believe it also has some GLBT themes, though they're only hinted at in this book.

I only have two issues with it. Flewelling made a habit of starting a lot of sentences with -ing phrases, and sometimes they involved actions that couldn't possibly happen at the same time. Otherwise, the writing was fine. My other complaint is that there were a few sections when the story got kind of slow.

rwm4768 said:

Finished Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling. Overall, this was an enjoyable read with characters I liked. It didn't do anything revolutionary, but it was a good story. For those who are interested, I believe it also has some GLBT themes, though they're only hinted at in this book.

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The series gets better as it goes (and the M/M relationship grows more chemistry), tho there are slow patches here and there throughout.

Just preordered Peter F. Hamiltons newest book The Abyss Beyond Dreams. It is a new two part series in his Commonwealth universe. Only have been waiting 4 years for him to write more in that universe!

MindfullyChaotic said:

Just preordered Peter F. Hamiltons newest book The Abyss Beyond Dreams. It is a new two part series in his Commonwealth universe. Only have been waiting 4 years for him to write more in that universe!

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Have you finished his Void trilogy? I read the first, and I can't decide whether I want to read the next two. I liked the Pandora's Star duology better.

Finished the new Robin Hobb book a while back (loved it), and now I'm reading Ancillary Justice (this year's Hugo and Nebula Winners). Definitely a bit disorienting at first, but it's been pulling me in more and more.

Read Ocean at the End of the Lane by Gaiman, a lovely little book. After that I dove right into book two (The Blinding Knife) of the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks. I can't put my finger on it yet, but I absolutely love it.

About a week ago I finished Emperor of Thorns. I haven't been able to start another book yet, because I'm still thinking about this one. I did notice a lot more errors in this volume than in previous ones (frex, a minor character's name is spelled two different ways), and there's one particular scene that I'm just not sure I understand, but whatever your thoughts are on Jorg, I think it's worth finishing the trilogy. Among other things, I think the Empire of Thorns is a very thoughtful examination of what we value in our heroes, and the kind of person someone would have in be in order to change the world with the speed and to the degree that fantasy heroes routinely do.

I've just started rereading The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. I originally read all the way upto book 10 before giving up and then forgetting everything that had happened so now the series is finished I'm having to start again. I'd also forgotten just how good it is! (Looks at pile of 14 books) I may be some time.

Last Finished (SFF): Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas. A teen assassin, imprisoned in the mines, is offered a chance at freedom if she can win a deadly competition to become Champion for the very king she so strongly opposed. Not a bad world and the characters had their moments, but I wound up feeling disappointed by an overburdened plot and increasing bouts of stupidity.

Currently reading (SFF): Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett. A simple novice is chosen as the next prophet of his god... but nobody wants to hear the message, not even the novice. Literally just started the thing last night. Love Pratchett's writing, but it's too soon to tell what I think of this story in particular.

In non-SFF, I'm reading a book on Native American history (Native American History and Culture, by Christopher Savio). Sounded interesting, but it's degenerated into textbook territory, interspersed with condemnation for how history books usually gloss over the Native perspective... which seems slightly ironic, as this book is making their history just as dull and lifeless as the stuff I slogged through back in school, not helped by the author's attempts to cram massively diverse cultures and histories into one volume.

Just rolled through Steph Swainston's "Castle" series. I wish more fantasy was that creative in terms of world-building and plot.

Finished The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams. I see that this has gotten mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed it. It was interesting seeing a different side of Williams. I'm used to his sweeping epics, so an urban fantasy was different.

I wonder if that's part of the reason many people didn't like it. They came in expecting Tad Williams's usual, and that wasn't what they got.

rwm4768 said:

Finished The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams. I see that this has gotten mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed it. It was interesting seeing a different side of Williams. I'm used to his sweeping epics, so an urban fantasy was different.

I wonder if that's part of the reason many people didn't like it. They came in expecting Tad Williams's usual, and that wasn't what they got.

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I keep forgetting I have the second one here to read. Personally, I really liked the first. It had all of his attention to detail but in that very different setting. I remember thinking that his pacing was also a bit different, with the climax being a bit more gradual than most of his epics. Was good, but certainly not what I was used to. Stuck with me for quite awhile after finishing it.

~wanders off to find where I buried the second one in my TBR pile~

rwm4768 said:

Finished The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams. I see that this has gotten mixed reviews, but I really enjoyed it. It was interesting seeing a different side of Williams. I'm used to his sweeping epics, so an urban fantasy was different.

I wonder if that's part of the reason many people didn't like it. They came in expecting Tad Williams's usual, and that wasn't what they got.

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It didn't work for me and I quit reading it fairly early on--it's been long enough that I couldn't say now how far into it I got. I wasn't comparing it to his other stuff. I didn't like the Christian mythos backdrop and I didn't care about the characters or the crime book feel. I decided I was ONLY reading it because I liked his other stuff, and then I stopped.

I'm about to crack open Jack Vance's The Dying Earth.

Rolling through E.E. Knight's Age of Fire series. Not fantastic, but I'm enjoying it.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

I've been slogging through Henry James "Portrait of a Lady" which is more research artifact for Steampunkery and/or romance than anything else, at this point in history.

I'm reading Brittle Star by Rod Val Moore. It's a bit bland, but I was told it was literary science fiction, so maybe that's why (I'm mostly a soft science fiction reader). The concept is interesting, so I'd probably recommend it to a fellow science fiction fan.

I'm also slogging through Dawnthief by James Barclay at a really slow pace.

Finished Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey. This is the fourth in the Expanse series, and it was my favorite so far. This is a great space opera series, with good characters and a lot of action.

I also like it because it's not set in the very distant future. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just nice to see a different kind of setting in space opera.