What have you been reading?

[Lofgeornost]

I finished the second Tomoe Gozen book by Jessica Amanda Salmonson, The Golden Naganata. It's better than the first entry in the series, I think--a more coherent plot and better prose. As in the first book, it's a nice mixture of human politics and encounters with otherworldly creatures and locales--Tomoe's descent into a Buddhist hell is interesting and would make good game fodder. It also returns to/ties up some loose ends from the very beginning of the first book, providing a nice sense of closure (though really the first book works fine as a stand-alone volume). Since the third volume didn't appear for a couple of years after this, I wonder if Salmonson originally planned to write just two books and then later added a third.

 

[Stan]

I've been listening mainly to authors new to me. Here's what was recent, in order from best to worst:

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett.
This is a fantasy mystery and has been compared to Sherlock and Watson. This isn't entirely fair as the pair in this novel are more interesting on the Watson analog is the more active of the two. It's a well built fantasy world without magic, but biotech is highly developed. Much of the good bio stuff originated with Kaiju who threaten the empire. In addition to better materials, people can be stronger, faster, or smarter, though usually at a cost. An official died when a tree suddenly sprouted out of him and the mystery grows from there to a major conspiracy. The characters and world are fun and the mystery is will done. I'll definitely read the sequel and I'm tempted to track down his earlier stuff as well.

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo
This comes from a series of short novellas (2-3 hours) about a low fantasy China analog. Tigers can turn into people, there are mammoths; ghouls and necromancers are mentioned. The stories center on a travelling monk whose temple collects history and legends. They travel around, stuff happens, and people tell them stories. This particular one is about a few people trapped by tigers and who wind up comparing story versions with the tigers. I'm on my 3rd one from the series and they're all light fun; very well written so they flow well.

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
I'd heard good stuff about Joe but wasn't in the mood for a 20+ hour book so I tried this YA. It's good but not earth shattering. Younger brother not trained to be king become king, almost killed, an adventure happens. I saw the twists coming but the characters are well done, as is the action. I might read the sequels.

High Time in Low Parliament by Kelly Robson
A scribe is tricked into working at the international parliament run by fairies. It's alright but I stopped a third of the way through as it didn't seem to be progressing. Maybe I'll give it another try as I really liked her book Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach about post collapse rebuilding and time travel tourism.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
About robots and freaks in the woods. I found the writing twee, made much more so by the narration. I quit after 20 minutes. It might have interesting ideas but it was just too painful.

 

[Lofgeornost]

I've been listening mainly to authors new to me. Here's what was recent, in order from best to worst:

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
I'd heard good stuff about Joe but wasn't in the mood for a 20+ hour book so I tried this YA. It's good but not earth shattering. Younger brother not trained to be king become king, almost killed, an adventure happens. I saw the twists coming but the characters are well done, as is the action. I might read the sequels.

The sequels are fairly entertaining. The next book is a lightly-reskinned Viking voyage to Constantinople and the final one leans more into the post-apocalyptic nature of the setting.

 

[zanshin]

Currently reading Command by Al Murray, stand up comedian and WW2 enthusiast.

It's about various commanders on the allied side in WW2 and is very anecdotal, but a fun read if you are into that sort of thing (I am)

 

[Rob Necronomicon]

I'm nearly finished, The Southern Book Clubs Guide Slaying Vampires - Grady Hendrix.
Damn! It's really good so far and a pretty unusual set up.
Bit of a slow burn which i like. But might not be for peeps who are looking for more action horror.

 

[Lychee of the Exchequer]

Not long ago, I finished Alien Heat (1972), the first part of The Dancers at the End of Time trilogy by Michael Moorcock.

I haven't read much Moorcock, apart from the Elric saga from 30 years ago (which made a huge impression on my younger self), and I was curious to see if I'd appreciate the Dancers book.

Well, I found it pleasant - specially aesthically so. Like in the Elric work, Moorcock has a flowing/florid style, not much bothered with characters' psychology, but more with exotic environments, feelings and strange philosophies of life - an impressionist way of depicting things, if you like.

When I speak of "strange philosophies", it's because Mooorcock (at least in this book) likes to put clearly postulated philosophical questions to his readers, like : "Does a human being who is delivered from all hardships (even death) remains a human being ?". And then he writes his book to give his readers a feeling which could answers this particular question, depending on what each reader feels.

I appreciated the book, but I was not convinced by his main character, or the main character's love interest. This book was trippy, in a typical 70s way, and its protagonists were quirky, but it did not speak to my guts, or my spirit.

Contrast that with Cordwainer Smith's short story Scanners Live in Vain (1950), which I read still earlier.

In this as in the other Instrumentaly stories, Cordwainer's prose is poetic, evocative, and at the same time... gutsy ? Almost painful, I would say. Reading Moorcock and Cordwainer Smith almost side by side, one can't help but feel the depth that Cordwainer's work evokes, opposite the pleasant prettiness and smart-(ass)ness of Mooorcock's books.

After that, I read Cyrion (1982) by Tanith Lee. It's a very aesthetically pleasing fantasy piece, sensual and thoroughly enjoyable. Tanith Lee's got style, which you can't fake. Swordmen, harlots, inkeepers and wizards: I really enjoyed the short stories in Cyrion - as I did when I was a teenager long ago.

I've decided now that if I can I will read the first novel or short story of each author I'll come across*, to have an informed perspective on his or her work - and I've begun with J. G. Ballard Prima Belladonna (1956) short story.

In case you wondered, Ballard wrote genuilely strange stories from the get go. It was a pleasure reading this !

To conclude: I will soon read the latest Hugo Award winner Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher so as to not get stuck in the past glories of SF.

* until I inevitably tire of this process

 

[Lofgeornost]

In this as in the other Instrumentaly stories, Cordwainer's prose is poetic, evocative, and at the same time... gutsy ? Almost painful, I would say. Reading Moorcock and Cordwainer Smith almost side by side, one can't help but feel the depth that Cordwainer's work evokes, opposite the pleasant prettiness and smart-(ass)ness of Mooorcock's books.

After that, I read Cyrion (1982) by Tanith Lee. It's a very aesthetically pleasing fantasy piece, sensual and thoroughly enjoyable. Tanith Lee's got style, which you can't fake. Swordmen, harlots, inkeepers and wizards: I really enjoyed the short stories in Cyrion - as I did when I was a teenager long ago.

It's been a long time since I read any Cordwainer Smith, so I'm not sure how I'd compare his work to Moorcock. But Moorcock wrote in a number of styles or veins, and my understanding is that the Dancers at the End of Time series is rather different from much of his other work.

I read Cyrion myself for the first time a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. I somehow missed Tanith Lee back in the 1970s and 1980s and have been slowly reading some of her work from that era. I'm sorry I didn't read it then, but it means I get the pleasure of first encounters with it now.

Last week I read the last of Salmonson's Tomoe Gozen books, Thousand Shrine Warrior. You can see Salmonson's skills as an author developing over the course of these three novels. This final one had a more unified and effective plot, and better prose, than the first two. It also had some secrets and plot-twists I didn't guess in advance, which is always nice. Like the earlier books, it is largely tragic--Tomoe Gozen is normally in the position of winning every battle, but losing the war, so to speak. This is literally true in the second book, while she is still a samurai; it's more metaphorically the case in this book, where she is a traveling Buddhist 'nun.'

Over the weekend, I raced through The Winter List, the last entry in S.G. MacLean's Damian Seeker series of historical mysteries. This one is set in the early 1660s, after Charles II has returned to the throne and Seeker has fled to Massachusetts. He actually only makes a cameo appearance in the book--it focuses on some of his old associates and adversaries. That's fine, since they are really as interesting (or more so) characters than Seeker himself. The 'formula' for the book is rather different than the earlier volumes. Those tended to combine a murder case with investigating plots against Cromwell, so they had a spice of espionage to them. In this one, the main driver of the plot are attempts by one Roger L'Estrange (a real person) to hunt down some of Cromwell's supporters; there is a murder, but little time is spent investigating it. MacLean is really good at writing this sort of thing and whole series is compulsively readable.

 

[Acmegamer]

Not long ago, I finished Alien Heat (1972), the first part of The Dancers at the End of Time trilogy by Michael Moorcock.

I haven't read much Moorcock, apart from the Elric saga from 30 years ago (which made a huge impression on my younger self), and I was curious to see if I'd appreciate the Dancers book.

Well, I found it pleasant - specially aesthically so. Like in the Elric work, Moorcock has a flowing/florid style, not much bothered with characters' psychology, but more with exotic environments, feelings and strange philosophies of life - an impressionist way of depicting things, if you like.

When I speak of "strange philosophies", it's because Mooorcock (at least in this book) likes to put clearly postulated philosophical questions to his readers, like : "Does a human being who is delivered from all hardships (even death) remains a human being ?". And then he writes his book to give his readers a feeling which could answers this particular question, depending on what each reader feels.

I appreciated the book, but I was not convinced by his main character, or the main character's love interest. This book was trippy, in a typical 70s way, and its protagonists were quirky, but it did not speak to my guts, or my spirit.

Contrast that with Cordwainer Smith's short story Scanners Live in Vain (1950), which I read still earlier.

In this as in the other Instrumentaly stories, Cordwainer's prose is poetic, evocative, and at the same time... gutsy ? Almost painful, I would say. Reading Moorcock and Cordwainer Smith almost side by side, one can't help but feel the depth that Cordwainer's work evokes, opposite the pleasant prettiness and smart-(ass)ness of Mooorcock's books.

After that, I read Cyrion (1982) by Tanith Lee. It's a very aesthetically pleasing fantasy piece, sensual and thoroughly enjoyable. Tanith Lee's got style, which you can't fake. Swordmen, harlots, inkeepers and wizards: I really enjoyed the short stories in Cyrion - as I did when I was a teenager long ago.

I've decided now that if I can I will read the first novel or short story of each author I'll come across*, to have an informed perspective on his or her work - and I've begun with J. G. Ballard Prima Belladonna (1956) short story.

In case you wondered, Ballard wrote genuilely strange stories from the get go. It was a pleasure reading this !

To conclude: I will soon read the latest Hugo Award winner Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher so as to not get stuck in the past glories of SF.

* until I inevitably tire of this process

I need to track down and get a copy of Cyrion. I used to own it, snagged it at an Armed Forces Post Exchange in 1983. I recall really liking it at the time having already read older Tanith Lee works at that time. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Lofgeornost]

I need to track down and get a copy of Cyrion. I used to own it, snagged it at an Armed Forces Post Exchange in 1983. I recall really liking it at the time having already read older Tanith Lee works at that time. Thanks for the reminder!

It's available in e-book format now, if that floats your boat. A couple of years ago, when I was looking for it, it wasn't, though used paperbacks weren't that hard to come by.

 

[Acmegamer]

It's available in e-book format now, if that floats your boat. A couple of years ago, when I was looking for it, it wasn't, though used paperbacks weren't that hard to come by.

Definitely floats my boat these days. I tend to have an easier time reading in the Kindle paperwhite format. Much easier on my eyes. I recall in the late 1970s reading quite a few books by Tanith Lee that I enjoyed, The Birthgrave, Vazkor Son of Vazkor and Quest for the White Witch come to mind from that time period.

Pretty sure I recall enjoying Night's Master and other books from that series as well, but currently I don't recall the specifics of series. So I'll probably need to get those as well.

 

[Lofgeornost]

Definitely floats my boat these days. I tend to have an easier time reading in the Kindle paperwhite format. Much easier on my eyes. I recall in the late 1970s reading quite a few books by Tanith Lee that I enjoyed, The Birthgrave, Vazkor Son of Vazkor and Quest for the White Witch come to mind from that time period.

Pretty sure I recall enjoying Night's Master and other books from that series as well, but currently I don't recall the specifics of series. So I'll probably need to get those as well.

The Birthgrave trilogy is available in e-book form, though the second book has been retitled Shadowfire. The Tales of the Flat Earth books (Night's Master, etc.) are out as e-books as well, though I found it was cheaper to buy the omnibus collections of them in hardback from the late 1980s used. They were produced for a book-club (maybe the SF bookclub, I'm not sure) so there are a lot of them floating around.

 

[Longfingers]

Started about half a dozen books recently but none grabbing me so I pulled the first Powder Mage book out again. Really wanted the Savage Worlds sourcebook to be good but apparently it was disappointing and the game line is dead.

 

[Voros]

The Birthgrave trilogy is available in e-book form, though the second book has been retitled Shadowfire. The Tales of the Flat Earth books (Night's Master, etc.) are out as e-books as well, though I found it was cheaper to buy the omnibus collections of them in hardback from the late 1980s used. They were produced for a book-club (maybe the SF bookclub, I'm not sure) so there are a lot of them floating around.

I'm glad to see the modern revival in interest and appreciation for Tanith Lee.

When I first discovered her fantasy novels I thought they were too densely written, strange and perverse to become popular, it's a good thing to see I was wrong!

 

[Giganotosaurus]

As a part of my ongoing 8 book pile I checked out from the library I reread John Scalzi's "Redshirts". It's a fun sci-fi comedy that gets weirdly philosophical at the end. Overall I enjoyed reading it the second time as much as the first.

 

[Lofgeornost]

As a part of my ongoing 8 book pile I checked out from the library I reread John Scalzi's "Redshirts". It's a fun sci-fi comedy that gets weirdly philosophical at the end. Overall I enjoyed reading it the second time as much as the first.

Scalzi is one of those authors I keep meaning to read, but never have, except for a couple of short stories. He also seems like a nice guy--I had a little email contact with him a few years back when I was helping to organize a book festival.

 

[Acmegamer]

Scalzi is one of those authors I keep meaning to read, but never have, except for a couple of short stories. He also seems like a nice guy--I had a little email contact with him a few years back when I was helping to organize a book festival.

Yep, he's a nice guy. Red Shirts is a lot fun to read. I enjoyed Old Man's War as well. I need to read more of his books. My wife has read almost everything he's done and really enjoys his books.

 

[Lofgeornost]

Yep, he's a nice guy. Red Shirts is a lot fun to read. I enjoyed Old Man's War as well. I need to read more of his books. My wife has read almost everything he's done and really enjoys his books.

I have a hardback copy of Old Man's War with a seriously ugly cover that I picked up dirt cheap some years back at a remainder book store. I need to move it closer to the top of the 'to read' pile--which is turning into the 'to read' mountain.

 

[Acmegamer]

I have a hardback copy of Old Man's War with a seriously ugly cover that I picked up dirt cheap some years back at a remainder book store. I need to move it closer to the top of the 'to read' pile--which is turning into the 'to read' mountain.

"To Read Mountains" are the best kind of problems to have.