What we're reading, the SFF edition

Kjbartolotta

Potentially has/is dog
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 15, 2014
Messages
4,197
Reaction score
1,049
Location
Los Angeles
My favorite is the book that comes after, Wishsong. Of all 29, it is still my top pick.

Both Elfstones and Wishsong were very good (to 11 year old me, not concerned what the 35 y/o version thinks). By far my favorite was Druids, and the whole Scions Of series was pretty sick overall.
 

MonsterTamer

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
498
Reaction score
25
Every Heart A Doorway & Down Among the Sticks and Bones in the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire.

I love fairy tales, especially new ones, and these creepy, dark novellas did not disappoint.
 

LOG

Lagrangian
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
7,714
Reaction score
354
Location
Between there and there
Diadem From the Stars
First book of the Diadem series. Has a vein of casual sexual violence throughout that turned me off.
 

ReignaFTW

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 20, 2017
Messages
105
Reaction score
4
Location
MKE
Recently finished Behind the Throne by KB Wagers and absolutely loved it. Fast-paced and plenty of political intrigue. Bonus points for the solidly executed matriarchal society. Exactly the kind of thing I enjoy reading. Started the sequel, After the Crown, and so far it's as enjoyable as the first book.
 

remister

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 4, 2016
Messages
501
Reaction score
308
Just started The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro.
 

ManWithTheMetalArm

Has One Badass Arm
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2016
Messages
202
Reaction score
22
Location
Planet Zognoid
Finally getting around to reading some of the classics, as I've been eating up Asimov's I, Robot recently, and boy does it set my imagination spinning! I normally find somewhat older "classics" to be slow reads (I.E. Dracula), but everything in here is both short, sweet, and too the point and imaginative enough to really put a picture in your mind! And no, for those who have not read, it is not like the movie, or at least takes a while before it gets to the part the movie was based on.
 

MonsterTamer

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
498
Reaction score
25
I am currently reading the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas. I am just about to start Court of Mist and Fury and so far its edge of your seat goodness.

This is the first time in a year I have sat and read a book series in under a month and it has really inspired me. Highly reccomend if you want something easy with a bit of adventure, romance, lost and girl power!

I finished both A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. Waiting on the third, Wings and Ruin. I really enjoy this author's writing. It's so fluid and easy to read. These are heavy on the tropes, but I still love them. I'll read the same old story over and over as long as it's packaged well.
 
Last edited:

Kjbartolotta

Potentially has/is dog
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 15, 2014
Messages
4,197
Reaction score
1,049
Location
Los Angeles
Watering @ the mouth waiting for my copy of Unholy Consult by master grimlord R Scott Bakker to arrive, just got my grubby hands on and started the ARC of Winter of Ice and Iron. My dudes, if you don't know who Rachel Neumeier, is you really should, lotsa amazing fantasy books coming from that one, Mountain of Kept Memory was also rather impressive.
 

JoyceAernouts

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 6, 2017
Messages
55
Reaction score
9
Location
Belgium
Website
www.smalltownjoyce.wordpress.com
Yesterday I started Clariel by Garth Nix. It's a prequel to the Old Kingdom trilogy, which I absolutely love! I would recommend this series to anybody for as long as I live (and beyond that since it's a story about necromancers and I will definitely come back after I die)
 

MonsterTamer

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
498
Reaction score
25
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas, third in the series A Court of Thorns and Roses.

This is the series I cannot understand how on earth it was published under a children's publishing company, and listed as "YA" - found in the teen section of my library. NO. Not even close. It's a good book. For adults.
 
Last edited:

rwm4768

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
Messages
15,472
Reaction score
767
Location
Missouri
Finished two books recently.

Staked by Kevin Hearne. Another fun entry in the Iron Druid Chronicles. I don't love it as much as I love Dresden, but it's still a lot of fun.

Ruin by John Gwynne. I liked it, but not quite as much as the second book in the series. There were some amazing twists in this one, as well as a cliffhanger at the end.
 

Brightdreamer

Just Another Lazy Perfectionist
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
12,975
Reaction score
4,507
Location
USA
Website
brightdreamersbookreviews.blogspot.com
And another month...

Recently Read SF/F:
A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent series, Book 1, Marie Brennan, fantasy, paperback): In a Victorianesque world, Isabella grows up with an unladylike passion for science and natural history... more specifically, the many species of dragons about which so little is known. Years later, she gets the chance to travel abroad in search of rock-wyrms with her husband, only to find herself caught up in a dangerous collision of politics, mystery, superstition - and unusually aggressive dragons...

Yes, I started this a month ago. It was a very trying month for reading, due to Various Factors. In any event, I enjoyed it. Isabella makes a decent heroine, if a somewhat impetuous one, and her world and its dragons are nicely realized; without infodumps, it creates a sense of a world that's both exotic and familiar, hinting at religions and international tensions and deep histories. A few elements of the ending felt a slight bit flat for some reason, but I expect I'll read the next book at least.

Paper Girls (Volumes 1 - 3, Brian K. Vaughan, YA sci-fi/graphic novel, Nook via Hoopla): In 1988, shy Erin was delivering papers in Stony Stream, a quiet suburb of Cleveland, when a trio of teens threaten her... only to be driven off by a group of other paper girls. Mac, KJ, and Tiffany offer to let Erin join their group, finding safety in numbers. But while they usually have to contend with little more than the odd thief or rowdy teen, this morning brings a new threat: strangely-robed boys, a bizarre podlike device, and a sky full of pteranodon-like beasts from another time... and that's just the beginning of an adventure that takes them from 1988 to 2016 and back to prehistory, facing clones and giant monsters along a polluted timestream.

The first volume recently won an award, so I gave it a try. So far, it's an interesting story, with nice character development and a compelling plotline. I look forward to the next volume... and, eventually, some closure, but I trust the writer so far.

Currently Reading SF/F:
Shadowshaper (The Shadowshaper series, Book 1, Daniel Jose Older, YA fantasy, paperback): It started the day Sierra saw the tear fall from the eye of a mural... and later found herself chased by a living corpse. Some power she knew nothing about stalks the streets of Brooklyn, secrets binding her stroke-ridden grandfather and other old-timers of her Puerto-Rican neighborhood with the living murals and a missing anthropology professor who became obsessed with ancient spiritual rites.

This story has a very strong sense of ethnicity and place, set in a modern neighborhood under siege by gentrification and starring a girl firmly rooted in her culture, even as she strives to reject the limitations and prejudices she sees around her. At times, the dialect and names grow a little thick, and it's taking a while for anyone to actually tell Sierra anything about what's going on even as she's clearly in danger (moreso because of her ignorance), but so far it's keeping me reading.

The City Beyond the Sands (The Chronicles of Dushara, Book 1, Michael K. Rose, sci-fi, Kindle): Will doesn't know how he fell into another world; one moment he was watering his tomatoes on the porch, and the next he was in a primeval forest facing a rhino-sized monster. When he meets Daniel, he learns that he's come to the world known as Dushara, a rough approximation of Earth, populated with plants, animals, and people seemingly pulled at random from throughout Earth's history (and prehistory.) Daniel himself came from the 1970's, making a living writing stories based on the old pulp novels he devoured as a kid, and the country they're in - New Britain - was founded by a shipload of Englishmen from before the Industrial Revolution. Will refuses to accept that there's no way home, and so sets out on a quest to discover what he can about Dushara, seeking any stories, leads, or legends that might point to a reason behind the chaos. But Dushara's wildlife isn't the only danger; it's a largely uncivilized world, with thieves and raiders and worse.

It looked like a quick read, and it was discounted. So far, that's about all it is. The characters are thin and the story feels a little too much like those pulp novels Daniel loved as a boy, with cultures tending to be quick caricature sketches and dangers popping up like random encounters in an RPG, with little setup or follow-through. But it's reading fast, so I'm going to finish it at this point.
 
Last edited:

Kjbartolotta

Potentially has/is dog
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 15, 2014
Messages
4,197
Reaction score
1,049
Location
Los Angeles
Finished the Unholy Consult by R. Scott Bakker. Total rampaging insanity. I think an alternate title could have been called 'The One Where Everyone Starts Eating Each Other'. Yes, and that's not even a spoiler! I don't like grimdark as a rule, when I do like it I like it a lot, though some of it can be too much for me. The whole series is indeed too much, and yet it's my favorite modern fantasy series by a longshot! Certainly the one I've waited around for the most, thought about the most, and have been the most eager to spend $ on. And after this book, not the last one but very much a conclusion, I feel I've been gut-punched by the sheer epicness and mindbending WTFery enough that I can finally let it rest for a while. Very satisfied, multiple Xanatos Pileups between amoral superbeings with lots of blood and gorm and mayhem, the final twist was mindblowing!
 

MonsterTamer

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
498
Reaction score
25
The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth #3) by N. K. Jemisin

This trilogy is some of the best fantasy I've read in a while. The third and final installment did not disappoint.
 

Kjbartolotta

Potentially has/is dog
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 15, 2014
Messages
4,197
Reaction score
1,049
Location
Los Angeles
Not fantasy, but picked up The Amazons by Adrienne Mayor. Highly recommendable as a worldbuilding resource, and specifically for anyone looking to create realistic and plausible women warriors in the fantasy novel (as I constantly am). Mayor explores the myths of the Amazons, then goes more in depth to study the pot-smoking, tattooed, and hard-partying women of Scythia and Sarmatians, as well as giving a broader view of steppe cultures and their historically fairly relaxed gender norms. Mayor is a true classist, and dotes lovingly on the minutiae of pottery shards, obscure names, and other such close details, this can be a put-off for some, but for me it enlivens the whole experience (and again, makes it a great reference for worldbuilding). She's also clearly enjoying herself, and can be rather speculative, imaginative, and time even fanciful in her depiction of the rather mysterious warrior women of the steppe.
 

phantasy

I write weird stories.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 16, 2012
Messages
1,895
Reaction score
259
Location
The Moon
Oh, I've been a busy reader these days!


Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw - A lovely lyrical novella. I'll probably re-visit for prose alone, though honestly the plot was nothing special. Still, really enjoyed it and will keep my eyes peeled for more stories from her. For once, Lovecraft-style lore was made accessible for me.

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle - Another Lovecraft-style novella that I really liked. Reading spec fiction by diverse authors is the best. Love how it dealt with racism and Jim Crow in 1920s, and slightly satisfied a need for revenge on that era. Pity his other books aren't as highly rated.

Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore - Eh, it's alright. Started out really strong and dark and well-written and ended up being the typical moody paranormal noir, where women almost never get a fair shake. I'm really sick of these kinds of books where women are claimed to be smart but never do anything cool. They're still always the girlfriend that ends up hating the main male character, or some kind of bait for the mc. Not a happy ending either. I think I might have had some sympathy if the MS had lost a limb instead of coming out even more powerful. Bah, I might read another later since I enjoy the angry asshole character from time to time.

IT by Stephen King - Actually, I still have 10% to read of this one. It's–just–so–dang–long! I mean really! Could've cut 25% if not more, which is usually how I feel about King. I feel like once upon a time people had the patience for door-stoppers where you knew the character's lives backwards and forwards. Many parts reminded me of all those useless filler episodes the old tv dramas where so famous for. I can tell how it's going to end, there's really no new info being presented at this point, just a lot of useless back and forth. The main characters childhoods were my favorite part, and their parents and the bullies were far scarier to me that IT. I mean, a monster that will eat you is one thing, it's quite another for those you're supposed to love to abuse you or are so awful that you can't go to them for help. One of the kids is a girl, but that's it's ridiculous there's only one and I'm not a fan of the trope of the girl that can't get along with other women and so she's special enough to hang with the boys. Not realistic at all.


In other news, I have a nice, long TBR pile that I'm looking forward to, so more reviews to come.
 
Last edited:

MonsterTamer

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
498
Reaction score
25
Tower of Dawn by Sarah Maas, 6th in The Throne of Glass series.

This book follows Chaol and Nesryn, and does nothing to advance the ridiculous cliff hanger at the end of book five. It is worth a read if you're into this series though.

While things about Maas' writing annoy me, she does a great job raising the stakes to unbelievable levels and building layers into stories I never would have saw coming. Most annoying to me is her overuse of the word "kernel."
 

BethS

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
11,708
Reaction score
1,763
Tower of Dawn by Sarah Maas, 6th in The Throne of Glass series.

This book follows Chaol and Nesryn, and does nothing to advance the ridiculous cliff hanger at the end of book five. It is worth a read if you're into this series though.

While things about Maas' writing annoy me, she does a great job raising the stakes to unbelievable levels and building layers into stories I never would have saw coming. Most annoying to me is her overuse of the word "kernel."

In these, does she have characters purring and crooning their dialogue? That drove me crazy in her Court series.
 

MonsterTamer

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Messages
498
Reaction score
25
In these, does she have characters purring and crooning their dialogue? That drove me crazy in her Court series.

ha! She has some odd habits. I've read all of her novels in the past few months, which probably isn't fair to her. It puts all of the similarities in extreme perspective.

This book was composed entirely of humans, so there was a little less growling. Honestly, if I never read the phrase "purely male smile" again, I'll be happy.
 

mafiaking1936

Nihil debetur. Nihil debens.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 21, 2017
Messages
370
Reaction score
100
Location
...from inside the house!!!
I'm about half through (heh) Joe Abercrombie's Shattered Sea trilogy. I knew it was more for a younger crowd, but that wasn't really bothering me too much until I got to all the teenage drama and my eyes started to glaze over. I mean, I guess that makes it more realistic but dang kids are annoying, even if they do have god-level fighting skills.
 
Last edited:

BethS

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 21, 2005
Messages
11,708
Reaction score
1,763
Recently finished Kate Elliott's YA trilogy: Court of Fives, Poisoned Blade, and Buried Heart, along with the two novellas that fit into some empty spaces in the story: "Night Flower" and "Bright Thrones." This series has an unusual setting and unusual magic, and she keeps the reader in doubt about the outcome until the very end. Signature Kate Elliott storytelling.
 

Brightdreamer

Just Another Lazy Perfectionist
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
12,975
Reaction score
4,507
Location
USA
Website
brightdreamersbookreviews.blogspot.com
Been about a month, and I'm procrastinating...

Recently Read SF/F:
The Summer Tree (Book 1 of the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy, Guy Gavriel Kay, Fantasy, paperback): Five college students are transported to the "first of worlds," Fionavar, where they become entangled in world-shaping events as an ancient evil finally breaks free of its centuries-long imprisonment.

It's considered a classic, an epic with a Celtic/Arthurian flavor and shades of Tolkien in world-building depth (and deep-rooted themes of religion and sacrifice), but ultimately it wasn't my cup of cocoa. The characters fell too easily into archetype roles, never really seeming human or relateable, particularly in their lack of overall sense of wonder at being in another world. I also had my hackles up at events toward the end. Some nice descriptions, though, once I got used to Kay's rather stiff and formal (clearly Tolkien-inspired) style.

Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 (Book 1 of The Mouse Guard series, David Petersen, Fantasy/Graphic Novel, Nook via Hoopla): For generations, the elite ranks of the Mouse Guard have protected the hidden mouse cities from predators and scouted safe routes, but the routine search for a missing grain merchant unearths evidence of a plot against Lockhaven, the citadel of the Guards.

Sort of like Redwall without some of the tedium and sexism, I enjoyed this adventure in the mouse world. Nice illustrations, and the story moved at a decent clip. I expect I'll read more installments.

Charismagic #0 (Issue 0 of the Charismagic series, Vincent Hernandez, Fantasy/Graphic Novel, Nook via Hoopla): For centuries, magic has hidden from the world of humans, but a dangerous enemy is about to break free of the Void dimension where he was imprisoned - and the time for hiding is over, a shift that will change the world and the lives of many people, including stage magician Hank.

Intriguing setup - but that's literally all it was, a magical character in a cafe talking about the enemy, with a touch of "as you know, Bob" as she's telling this to two other magical beings. Hank is just glimpsed at the end briefly, with no connection. Then there's some extra material that meant nothing to me, as I haven't read the book. It was like someone gathering TV ads together and selling as a separate movie in a franchise - all tease, no substance. Decent art, but no real story. It made me wonder why it was marketed separately at all; the only people who might find it interesting presumably have already read the series, and there's nothing here that couldn't have been included with an actual story arc. Sorta left a sour taste in my mouth, though I might investigate the series proper... assuming it, too, isn't just toying with me.

Emilie and the Hollow World (Book 1 of the Emilie series, Martha Wells, YA Adventure/Fantasy, paperback): 16-year-old Emilie just wanted to run away from home, but a mishap leads her to stowing away aboard a strange vessel in the harbor... a vessel that takes off on a voyage through the aetheric currents to the unexplored center of the hollow world, on an adventure of wonder, danger, betral, and magic wilder than anything she's read about in any of her books.

This is a strange tale in many ways. It's a definite throwback to the sorts of yarns spun by Jules Verne or Edgar Rice Burroughs, leaning more toward the latter (shades of Pellucidar, perhaps.) But the plots in those old yarns weren't always that compelling, and the characters could be flat... faults that appear in this tale, too, under the very imaginative setting. Emilie's age suggests it's pitched at the young adult crowd, but the story frankly feels more like young middle grade, and even they would probably expect a little more character depth or complexity. I never really bought the contrived reason she ran away; it seemed overly convoluted for a character who really didn't have that much to her, save acting as a proxy for the reader - having a wild adventure among real-live grown-ups and getting to be a heroine, as so many young readers secretly might wish themselves to be. Her world, particularly the upper world, feels flat, too. The magic tends to be convenient to the story. That said, there's some nice mind's eye candy in the Hollow World that Emilie gets to explore, and I can definitely say I've read worse. An intriguing misfire, but a misfire nonetheless.

Currently Reading SF/F:
Starfire: A Red Peace (Book 1 of the Starfire trilogy, Spencer Ellsworth, SF, Kindle): The Revolution has succeeded, the enslaved vat-grown crossbreeds overthrowing the ruling powers of the starways, but their leader is not content with mere victory over the human bluebloods. His next step is extermination... not just of the ruling bluebloods, but all humans...

So far, it's a fast-paced, intriguing space opera with some very nice ideas and a refreshing aesthetic - definitely not a bubble-wrapped fluffy-bunny tale. Still getting the feel of the universe and characters, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

I'm between hardcopy books, but have a wide array of SF/F titles aching to be read... and some non-SF/F. Will probably pick one to try tonight or tomorrow night; most of my physical book reading tends to be before bed these days.