What books are you currently reading?

[Limeylongears]

Finished 'The Kabbalistic Tradition' (ed. Alan Unterman) - now reading Shadowlands: A Journey Through Lost Britain, by Matthew Green, as well as putting my partner to sleep of a night by reading her Lin Carter's 'Thongor Against The Gods' out loud.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Geomancer by Ian Irvine. 8 chapters in and it's OK and easily read. Not particularly invested in any characters or events so far but it is engaging enough that I'm not bored. I picked it up at a flea market so it remains to be seen if I bother to get the rest of the series.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Geomancer was OK. If I find the other books in the series cheap I'll pick them up.

Now on to "The Devil's skin and bones", the third of Bringsværd's Gobi series.

[Aberzombie]

I finished Man of Two Worlds from the Herberts. I could definitely see a difference in style from Frank working with his son. Definitely not even in my top 10 of his books.

Since it’s still October, and I’m in a bit of a horror mood, I’m going to delve into The Casebook of Carnaki The Ghost Finder, by William Hope Hodgson. It’s a little anthology I picked up at Half Price Books sometime in the relatively recent past.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

WHH is one of those authors I like bring up whenever someone starts spouting stuff about what is necessary for a good story. At best he's a passable wordsmith, at worst he's actually painful to read. The ultimate example of this is "The Night Land", which fails at almost every standard of what can be considered good yet the sheer imagination of the setting makes up for all the other serious shortcomings, making it a story worth reading as something other than as a lesson of things to avoid.

[Aberzombie]

Yeah, the only other thing of his I’ve read (to date) is The House on the Borderland. That was difficult at times.

[John Woodford]

Aberzombie wrote:

Yeah, the only other thing of his I’ve read (to date) is The House on the Borderland. That was difficult at times.

OTOH, if you've read The House on the Borderland, you'll get some of the in-jokes in Zelazny's The Changing Land.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Currently reading Petronius Satyricon. It's amusing.

[Aberzombie]

Just the other night, I watched the ‘92 Dracula. That put me in the mood to reread Stoker’s novel.

[Tim Emrick]

Fumarole wrote:

I just started Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. I have yet to read a work of his that I have not liked, so this one should be good.

I reread that one earlier this year. There is very little Gaiman has written that I have not enjoyed immensely. (Offhand, Neverwhere is the only one I can think of that didn't live up to my expectations for his work.)

Last time I posted here I mentioned getting a couple of Green Ronin's Blue Rose fiction anthologies in a sale. I have finished Sovereigns of the Blue Rose and have started Tales from the Mount. I still prefer Shadowtide, but that one's a novel, so has a lot more meat to it.

[Aberzombie]

I decided to delve back into my collection of Planet Stories from Paizo, several of which I’d never gotten around to reading. First up - Kuttner’s The Dark World.

I also realized there are some Planet Stories books I never got around to buying. Some of those are still available, but I’m not sure I’ll get them. I’d have to update certain information in my account, and I’m not sure I want to do that just to buy four books.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Satyricon is on hold while I frantically read Ironfang Invasaion and several other APs and adventures (not to mention old Known World Gazetteers and KW maps), looking for things to cannibalize for an upcoming game tomorrow. I had intended to run Mummys Mask but may have to put that one on hold for the forseeable future.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Ironfang Invasion turned out to be not terribly good for my needs, so I'm madly rushing through Carrion Crown, which hopefully will be adaptable enough.

[Aaron Bitman]

In 2019, in this thread, I mentioned I was reading the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy for the fifth time. (That alone proves how special it is to me; there's only one other novel series I loved enough to have read it that many times.) Also, starting in 2019, I was reading the original Dragonlance module series; I finished that a few months ago.

Now, I'm about 80% through my fifth reading of the first sequel series, the Dragonlance Legends trilogy. It's only been about 6 years since my fourth reading of it, and I'm often amazed at how much of it I don't remember from my first 4 readings. In general, I find that re-reading can be fun for catching details that I forgot - or missed altogether - from my previous readings. And much as I obviously love it, I don't regard Dragonlance as a sacred text. The writing has many flaws. (My re-readings make me see more of THOSE too.) I often imagine how - if many details had been written very differently - the Dragonlance series might have been just as good or better. And the modules bring home that point.

And you know what? Imagining the details being written differently is part of the fun! It may be part of what keeps me re-reading those books!

[Fumarole]

Ever since it was pointed out to me that the Dragonlance Chronicles are heavily influenced by Mormonism I haven't been able to see them the same way. I think If I were to reread them again (for the third or fourth time I think) I would do so in a very different manner.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Learning about RL ruins fiction.

[Aaron Bitman]

Heh.

"That's what a dose of reality does for you... Never touch the stuff myself, you understand. Find it gets in the way of the hallucinations."

- The Joker (in The Killing Joke)

[Aberzombie]

I’m tempted to make my next reading project yet another turn at The Silmarillion. If only because my wife just gifted me with what is apparently a new edition, containing a 1951 letter by Tolkien (an “exposition of the earlier ages”), as well as several paintings and drawings by Tolkien, which (according to the dust jacket blurb) are presented with the story for the first time.

To be honest, I hadn’t been aware this new copy was coming out. It’s certainly nicer than my two other copies.

[Aberzombie]

Still, I might go with something Planet Stories instead. Maybe a Gygax novel, or Silverberg’s Hunt the Space Witch.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

My Prince, fourth of Bringsværd's Gobi series.

[Aberzombie]

Currently reading Hellboy: Weird Tales. I believe it was previously separated into volumes 1 & 2.

[Limeylongears]

Just finished 'A Journey Of the Plague Year' by Daniel Defoe, and have started 'Meditation and the Kabbalah' by Aryeh Kaplan.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Just barely started Raymond Feist's Magician, another installment in my partially successful attempt to re-read my collection instead of buying new books.

[Fumarole]

I just started Die by Kieron Gillen. It looks to have an interesting premise and has good reviews, so I should enjoy it, even though I don't read many graphic novels.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Baghdad, the last of Bringsværd's Gobi series.

[Aberzombie]

Working on Iron Fist Epic Collection Volume 1. I’m pretty sure it’s the only volume of his they have so far. Some great writing.

[Tim Emrick]

Fumarole wrote:

I just started Die by Kieron Gillen. It looks to have an interesting premise and has good reviews, so I should enjoy it, even though I don't read many graphic novels.

I may have mentioned here a while back that I read the full series earlier this year. Definitely worth tracking it all down!

[Thomas Seitz]

It's a great series, (Die that is) and I'm wishing I had the money to invest in the Kickstarter they were doing to fund an RPG based on the series.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Rereading On Blue's Waters first part of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Short Sun.

[Aberzombie]

Reading Frank Miller’s Ronin. I picked up the deluxe edition off Amazon recently.

[Fumarole]

After reading the first volume of Die I don't think I will be continuing. Something about the way the story is told just didn't grasp me. Maybe it gets better in later volumes, but I'm not going to spend the money to find out. I would probably continue if a friend lent me a copy, though.

So instead I have started On War by Carl von Clausewitz. It's a classic text that I have been meaning to get to for some time.

[Limeylongears]

'Kidnapped' by Robert Louis Stephenson

'The Deep Fix', by James Colvin (Michael Moorcock under a pseudonym)

'The Citadel of Forgotten Myths' by Michael Moorcock.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Rereading The Fallible Fiend by L. Sprague deCamp. It's worth a few chuckles.

[Aaron Bitman]

In 2016, I was finishing up my second reading of the Conquerors trilogy by Timothy Zahn when I wrote about it in this thread. Here's a link to that post.

Later that year I began my third reading of the trilogy and wrote about it again. Here's a link to THAT post.

Once again - as in my second reading of the trilogy - I put it down - this time for YEARS - before picking it up again. I plan to finish it this weekend. I still have some gripes with that series. So many details seem to make no sense, and I believe that Zahn obfuscated those details with unnecessarily complicated-sounding babble. Well, maybe I'm wrong. I would love to get some kind of Conquerors source book in which Zahn could clarify those details; if he did, maybe I would revise my opinion and admit that the issue was with my comprehension, not with Zahn's writing. But I doubt it.

And yet, I just keep crawling back to that series! I said it before and I'll say it again: If you're looking for a military sci-fi novel series, or one with FTL travel and a variety of intelligent, space-faring races - in other words, a Star Wars-like book series - I can't think of anything I'd recommend more highly than the Conquerors trilogy.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Warm Worlds and Otherwise by James Tiptree jr.

This is the second book of her stories I've gotten hold of and am glad I did because it's good. The first was a bit more 'normal' SF, but this one has a lot more odd stuff, like future idiom, stream-of-conscious-ish storytelling, etc.

Also rereading the first book of Morrison's run of the Doom Patrol.

[pauljathome]

I've watched one too many youtube videos rubishing Rings of Power (which I have NOT seen).

These have inspired me to rewatch Lord of the Rings and to also re-read Lord of the Rings.

Good thing its nearly Xmas and I have lots of free time :-)

[Fumarole]

I started The Compleat Ankh-Morpork: City Guide by Terry Pratchett. There is a lot of good content in here, and the little anecdotes make all the difference. It's amazing how much life can be brought into something with only a sentence or two worded in just the right way.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

More than half way through Gene Wolfe's In Green's Jungles, second book of the Book of the Short Sun. There's a little too much focus on wars in the latter parts of BotLS and the first two BotSS for my taste. Still trying to find the hints for what is actually going on. Still a good book.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

One thing that really annoys me about BotSS is that most of the important stuff happens off-screen and is vaguely alluded throughout the books. Yes, I get that Wolfe likes unreliable narrators, and yes I can understand the appeal having to puzzle things out, but what really gets me is vital events being glossed over by the narrator. Things that are obviously very important to the narrator are virtually ignored in favor of details of things that by all accounts aren't as important.
Still worth reading, though.

Nearly done with Ben Aaronovitch's Moon over Soho. Entertaining and quick to read. Again, the series is very much like a more family friendly version of Stross' Laundry Files. A bit more sex, a bit less Lovecraftian horrors trying to eat the world.

[Robert Ranting]

Another year has passed, and while I still haven't resumed my pre-pandemic reading pace, things have improved.

Books read in 2022:

1. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
2. Baptism of Fire by Andrezj Sapkowski
3. Three Moments of an Explosion by China Meiville
4. Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson
5. The Annihilation Score (Book 6 of the Laundry Files) by Charles Stross
6. A Deadly Education (Book 1 of the Scholomance) by Naomi Novik
7. Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter
8. The World of Critical Role: The History Behind the Epic Fantasy by Liz Marsham and the Cast of Critical Role
9. The Blacktongue Thief by Chris Buehlman
10. A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
11. Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge
12. A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
13. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
14. Shadows of Shelf (Mistborn Era 2, Book 2) by Brandon Sanderson

Books started but abandoned:
The Black Prism (Book one of the Lightbringer series) by Brent Weeks
Critical Role: Vox Machina--Kith & Kin by Marieke Nijkamp

Top Three and Honorable Mention:

1. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke - an Intriguing mystery in a fantastical setting, with sympathetic characters and literary merit. Full of beautiful imagery that sticks with you.

2. A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge - Glad to finally read the book so many other Space Operas have been riffing on for decades. In particular, the alien perspectives are well executed and complex, different enough from humanity to seem genuinely alien, but recognizable as sympathetic heroes and horrifying villains who are defined by what they do, not what they are. Full of big ideas and tense plotting and plenty of action, there's a lot here to like.

3. A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge - I never thought I'd enjoy a book where half the characters are alien spiders, but here we are. A prequel to AFUtP, but one so distant in time and perspective as to stand alone. More of a dark thriller than a space opera, and perhaps in need of a mental health sensitivity reader, but I enjoyed it.

Honorable Mention:
The Blacktongue Thief by Chris Buehlman- a well executed picaresque with wonderfully messy characters you can still root for.

Bottom Three and Dishonorable Mention:

Baptism of Fire by Andrezj Sapkowski - I bought the first four Witcher books all at once, and despite hating Time of Contempt, I thought I'd finish what I'd invested in at least. I found this to be dismal filler. I think I've concluded that I like The Witcher as short stories, but not the novels.

Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge - a sequel that squandered all the good will the first book generated for the people of the Tine's World.

Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson - a depressing cyberpunk dystopia that is all the worse because some of the most powerful people in the real world seem to think it is aspirational.

Dishonorable Mention:
Shadows of Shelf (Mistborn Era 2, Book 2) by Brandon Sanderson -I generally enjoy Sanderson's Cosmere books, but Era 2 of Mistborn / The Wax and Wayne series just doesn't work for me at all. The worldbuilding, the drama and the humor all just fail to land. I will continue to read just for the larger Cosmere connections, but it's a slog.

[Limeylongears]

Truth Seeker and Mind Changer: Meditations on HEMA, ed Helmut Schmidt, which my partner kindly got for me as a gift. I'm also reading her 'Thongor At The End Of Time', by Lin Carter.

[Aberzombie]

For various reasons, I decided to reread Cycle of the Werewolf, by Stephen King. It’s only 127 pages, so I was able to finish it in a few hours. As far as I know, there’s not a lot of werewolf literature out there. One of the things I love about this particular story, however, is the accompanying artwork by the late, great Bernie Wrightson. As I recall, the whole thing started as calendar project, and King later expanded it into a novella.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri
For the last couple of years I've made a point of picking up an author I haven't read every time I buy books. Bonus points if it's a relatively new author and/or isn't straight white European/American male.

I initially thought this was Arab or Persian instead of Indian until I cottened on to the word 'daiva' about half way through the book. Shows how ignorant I am of everything outside my own metaphorical front door.

So far the story is pretty averagely enjoyable. Easy to read but more interesting for the non-British/American flavor than characters or plot. Nothing wrong with the characters or plot but nothing particulaly memorable either.

[Mokmurian the Great]

A particularly good book I've read recently is "The Misplaced Legion," which is Book 1 in the Videssos Cycle by Harry Turtledove. Basically, the premise is that a number of Roman legionnaires from the early empire are transported into a fantasy parallel of late Rome, with the caveat that the Romans take the place of the foreign mercenaries. It's a fairly interesting read.
However, my all-time favorite still has to be "The Mote in God's Eye," co-written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. The basic premise is about humanity's first contact with an alien species. It was definitely written by two different authors, and you can see that certain chapters have minor differences in general writings style, but overall, it's still a great read.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

Nearing the end of Empire of Sand. Slightly better than my initial impression, we'll see if the conclusion manages to surprise me.

Brief break to read the Apothecary Diaries vol 7.

[Limeylongears]

'How language began', by David Everett, which was tough, but interesting, and 'Manual for Spaceship Earth' by Buckminster Fuller, which was mostly just blather. Also picking up on Robin Wayne Bailey's 'Swords Against the Shadowland' again.

[Fumarole]

I just finished Mortality by Christopher Hitchens. We are the poorer for his absence from the world.

[Bjørn Røyrvik]

About half way through Gene Wolfe's Return to the Whorl, last part of the Book of the Short Sun. He's mixed up the formula with some third person narration now, and I'm not entirely sure if it is actual third person or first person masquerading as third person to make things seem even less clear.

[Aberzombie]

The other day I reread Dune, just because it had been over a year (I think).

Now I’m rereading REH stuff. Many years ago, when I was living in Philadelphia, someone put out an 11 book series (that’s how many I bought, at least). I’m pretty sure the series printed pretty much everything he’d ever written, including fragments.

[Fumarole]

My wife gifted me Rebel With A Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian by Ellen Jovin for Christmas and boy, does my wife sure know my interests. This book is right up my alley and I recommend it for everyone, not just those really into grammar and writing like I am.