What we're reading, the SFF edition

MonsterTamer

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Same, I never got to QoF, although there's this little, completion-loving part of my brain that wants to finish the series for the sake of doing so.

I have this problem. I'll continue a story to get to the end of it no matter how bad it is.
 

P.K. Torrens

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Holy schmoly!

I’m reading Semiosis... fricking amazing. Anyone read this? Came out this week.
 

ReignaFTW

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Currently reading Nevernight by Jay Kristoff. The gritty opening chapter sucked me right in. Definitely enjoying it so far.
 

Siwyenbast

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I'm hoping to get back to my copy of A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas over spring break, assuming that I get all my homework done before Wednesday. After that, I have A Court of Wings and Ruin, then Magic's Child by Justine Larabastier for new material. While it's YA Fantasy, it's still good stuff.
 

MonsterTamer

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I'm hoping to get back to my copy of A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas over spring break, assuming that I get all my homework done before Wednesday. After that, I have A Court of Wings and Ruin, then Magic's Child by Justine Larabastier for new material. While it's YA Fantasy, it's still good stuff.

I whole-heartedly object to SJM's books being marketed as YA. I liked the 2nd and 3rd in this series much better than ACOTAR.

I just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I really enjoyed this book. How do you rank the others in the series? I wish I could write humor into my stories like this.
 

Robinski

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I just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I really enjoyed this book. How do you rank the others in the series? I wish I could write humor into my stories like this.

I'm 200 pages in Book 3: The Republic of Thieves, which is just awesome. I found Red Seas Under Red Skies rather slow. Lots of good stuff in there, but I think the 'setting' of the 'middle' part of the story was really constraining. I can see why a writer would do that in a second book, to challenge themselves and to avoid just repeating the first book, I just thought it spoiled the balance of the story. For me, Republic of Thieves is already stronger.

At the same time, I'm reading Proven Guilty: Dresden Files Book 8. I can't read those books fast enough; they are wonderfully entertaining, so inventive in setting, character and magicality (which is now a word).
 
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konstantineblacke

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I just finished "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said,' by Philip K Dick. I can see why his writing influenced and changed things for Sci-fi. Currently reading: 'The Maze of Death' by him.
 

RobertLCollins

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I just finished the steampunk novel Unseemly Science by Rod Duncan, the second book in his "Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire" series. I quite enjoyed it. I discovered the series when I was looking through the book lists of people I follow on Goodreads, trying to find books I hadn't heard of. It was on Felicia Day's list and she liked the series quite a bit. I read the first book in the series last fall and enjoyed it. I'm hoping to read the third book down the road. In the meantime, though, I'll get back to the books I bought over the holidays.
 

rawan

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I'm just starting Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor. I'm not far enough in it yet to have much of an opinion, but I really enjoyed the first two Binti novellas so I expect to like this one, too. I would definitely recommend them. I find it fun and refreshing to knock out a novella in a sitting between reading longer books :D
 

Kjbartolotta

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Confluence by Paul McAuley. Just started it, but the reviews name-drop Book of the New Sun as a major influence. So I'm in. McAuley is pretty underrated in the States, I don't know how widely-read he is over in the UK. Very similar to Alastair Reynolds, hard SF with a liberal dash of 2000AD-style weirdness.
 

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Royal Assassin (Farseer Trilogy #2) by Robin Hobb.

On to the 3rd. I still find the pacing a bit slow, but it's a great story. I can't believe how that one just ended. I haven't been that surprised by an ending in while.
 

MonsterTamer

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I'm 200 pages in Book 3: The Republic of Thieves, which is just awesome. I found Red Seas Under Red Skies rather slow. Lots of good stuff in there, but I think the 'setting' of the 'middle' part of the story was really constraining. I can see why a writer would do that in a second book, to challenge themselves and to avoid just repeating the first book, I just thought it spoiled the balance of the story. For me, Republic of Thieves is already stronger.
Just finished Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch.

I agree about the pacing on this one being much slower, but I still greatly enjoyed it. Looking forward to book #3.
 

Jade Rothwell

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I'm listening to a podcast called Writing Alchemy. The creator reimagines fairy tales for a diverse adult audience and then discusses the story with another creator (although I generally skip the discussions and just listen to the stories)
 

David Poellot

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Just finished Mistborn: The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson, and I highly recommend reading him. I've read most of his, and he has very good writing style.

Since I'm waiting for Amazon to deliver my next order (my wife messed up the shipping request), I picked up Seanan McGuire's first book in the October Daye series, Rosemary and Rue. It's better than I expected, so far. I like being introduced to new worlds, and this one has been pretty good, so far.

In the mail is the next couple books from Benedict Jacka in his Alex Verus series. Then there is the next one in the Jane Hawk series from Dean Koontz, The Whispering Room.
 

indianroads

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Just finished Constitution by Nick Webb - which was pretty good even though it really similar to the plot of Battlestar Galactica, I gave it 5 stars.
Tried reading The Fall by Devon Ford - read the preview on Kindle and dumped it before finishing. Too political and kinda racist.
Just finished reading the kindle preview of The Hyperspace Trap by Christopher Nuttall - Interesting plot line, so I'll get the book. The writing is sort of clunky though, so it's a bit of a struggle.
 

MonsterTamer

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The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.

I enjoyed this so much more than the Mistborn books. I actually took a long break from him because the magic was too "hard" for my liking.
 

RobertLCollins

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Last night I finished The Summer Tree, the first book in the "Fionovar Tapestry" series. It was a quite interesting and surprising story. It looks like I have another series that I'm going to have to read at some point. For now, though, I'm going to pause for a few days, and then start on something lighter...
 

MonsterTamer

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A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

This didn't hold up to a second reading three decades later. My kids also read it as an incentive for a movie trip, and they all enjoyed it greatly. Maybe I'll have them write about their experience with it and have them re-read it in 2048 and see what they think. I prefer C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy for this kind of blended sci-fi and religion. Maybe it's just the difference between adult and middle grade fiction for me, but I feel like it's deeper.
 

ReignaFTW

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Started Beyond the Empire by K.B. Wagers, which is the final book in The Indranan War Trilogy. So far, it's living up to the expectations set by the first two books. I'm a sucker for palace intrigue and the abundant use of honorifics.
 

BethS

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Just finished Cross Talk by Connie Willis. Loved it. Classic Willis. This is a one of her lighter novels (in the mode of To Say Nothing of the Dog), and for me was the perfect antidote to the desperate, nail-biting, heart-rending high stakes of Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles (of which, I just finished Pawn in Frankincense and needed some recovery time), although Cross Talk is a complete page-turner in its own way. It explores many things, but primarily the unintended consequences of connectedness and telepathy. There are many wonderful allusions to various literary classics and movies, and it also contains a very credible love story. The ending is perfect. It's one of her few novels not to have won a Hugo or Nebula, though it was nominated.
 
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MonsterTamer

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The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard #3) by Scott Lynch

I was expecting more of a conclusion than this provided.

Some spoilery thoughts:
With all of the Sabetha buildup over the past two books, I was underwhelmed with her. So much of the plot of this book hung on that relationship. I don't buy that she can't handle the idea that she looks like some old dead mage's wife, whether it's secretly Locke reincarnate or not. That's all, it just annoyed me.
 
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kristywang

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Just finished Mistborn: The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson, and I highly recommend reading him. I've read most of his, and he has very good writing style.

I've heard great things about Sanderson. The Mistborn series is on my TBR list.

I just finished The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and loved it. I want to read the second book now, but then I realized that book three doesn't have an expected publication date yet. I'm torn between wanting to read the second book and knowing that I'll have to wait over a year to read book three (by which time I'll need to reread the first two books).
 

MonsterTamer

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Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

I wrote about this in more detail in the 2018 thread.