Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

F&SF Magazine, June 2002

An average issue. Nothing stood out for me.

I went straight on to F&SF Magazine, July 2002 by Spilogate Authors

A good issue. A fun short story "Geropods" and an interesting Novella, "Princess Aria".

Next up: Winter Moon by Mercedes Lackey, Tanith Lee & C. E. Murphy. Three fantasy novellas set during the winter solstice. Another from my recent Fictionwise mass purchase.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

Finished "Unraveled" by Maggie Sefton Saturday. It's the latest in her Kelly Flynn knitting mystery series. She left us with quite the cliffhanger regarding Kelly's personal life in the last one, so I was anxious to see how that was going to turn out. Well, not to spoil anything, but it's still not completely resolved, though in a better place than it was at the end of the previous book.
Now reading "Dire Threads" by Janet Bolin. Debut mystery series about a town on Lake Erie devoted to fiber crafts: knitting, sewing, embroidery, etc. She keeps referring to things that happened before the main character moved from NYC though, makes me wonder if there might be a prequel in the future sometime.
I noticed that Debbie Macomber has come out with "The 21st Wish" in the Blossom St. series, so I guess I'll have to pick that up while I'm back on this crafty mystery kick.

Still trying to wade my way through "Magic Bites" by Ilona Andrews (the first Kate Daniels). I was so looking forward to reading this series, but it's not holding my interest as I'd hoped it would. I think it's me, not the book, though, because they're getting rave reviews and I know that several people here love them.

I didn't have any trouble with the first book in the series, but several other ladies on various book groups I follow did. To a woman though, I think all of them found the second book much more to their liking. Drop the first and move to the second if the first isn't agreeing with you. If that doesn't work, the series may not be your thing!

[ATDrake]

Finished all 8 of the Castle Perilous series of comedic fantasy books by John DeChancie.

Right after I'd written that I was starting to look forward to the who's behind the castle invasion this time formula that had developed by the 4th book, the formula apparently promptly changed to, "Eh, these things are selling anyway, screw your expectations I'll write whatever I feel like!"

So the next 4 books were a mix of cozy mystery, surrealistic meta-commentary, a riff on the Sorcerer's Apprentice, and wacky satirical trope-mocking hijinks.

I liked them anyway, but they are kind of an acquired taste, since all the books really have in common content-wise besides the humour are the recurring characters, the multi-dimensional castle being a portal to many worlds, and thus someone getting lost and/or going on an adventure in one of the alternate-world aspects attached to the castle which is usually oddly analogous to various genre settings (20s Prohibition gangsters, Brave New Orwellian Dystopia, post-apocalyptic barbarian warlord tribes, I Can't Believe It's Not Troy!™, etc.), and separate chapters following each side-plot. Those are really the only things you can rely on to remain the same throughout the series.

Certainly the series keeps you guessing, but on the upside, if you don't care for one of the plot threads in any given book, you can easily skip it over and just read about any side-adventures that appeal to you. With that in mind, best/most enjoyable of the lot:

#3 Castle Kidnapped: has the best version of the early books' "someone's trying to take over the castle" plot.

#5 Castle Murders: slots a fairly nifty Agatha Christie-esque upper-class garden party murder mystery into a fantasy setting with magic. Plus it has a surprise Dorothy Sayers shout-out at the end.

#6 Castle Dreams: awesomely funny surrealistic postmodernist meta-commentary with footnotes and little quizzes on the story and series with such reader activities as answering the True/False questions:

10. The price of this book is outrageous for a cheesy paperback. __

and Suggested Projects like:

2. Organize a toad-fling in your neighborhood. Call it “performance art” or “conceptual art.” Seek federal funding. The National Endowment for the Arts would be a good place to start.

I don't think I'd want the entire series to have been written like this (well, maybe one or two more books), but this volume was hugely entertaining.

Honourable mentions for awesome side stories go to:

#4 Castle War!: while the castle is being invaded (again!) by evil duplicates from the mirror universe, there's a great golf game going on in what looks very much like Hell.

#8 Bride of the Castle: the main plot isn't much, but it's got two great side stories:

1. the down-on-his-luck medieval knight's efforts to escape a thoroughly encompassing grave-robbing curse (and the neverending tomb inscription is a hilarious must-read)
   
2. the cozy manor murder mystery where the bodies keep piling up and in the end it turns out during the obligatory "get them all together to trick the murderer into confessing" scene that
   Spoiler:

   they all dunnit, and keep on doing it by pulling out weapons right in the middle of the confessions
   , and that this sort of thing regularly goes on in that world, which is probably the model for like Midsomer Murders or something.

Overall the series is a bit of a mixed bag, but an entertaining bag and I certainly don't regret spending the roughly $3 per volume I paid for these things during one of Fictionwise's deep-discount coupon sales.

Medium-high recommend for people who like offbeat comedic fantasy involving alternate worlds and a little light satire. But you should probably check the individual plot summaries and try a sample of each volume to see which one suits you best unless you intend to read them all.

[zespectre]

ATDrake,

The "StarRigger" series by DeChancie is also a lot of fun.
-StarRigger
-Red Limit Freeway
-Paradox Alley

(The original paperback cover was THE COOLEST!)

I have wished for YEARS that someone would make a movie of this series of books.

[Todd Young]

I've just finished The Magus by John Fowles, and that was absolutely brilliant. At the moment I'm reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. It started off really well, but now that I'm over half way through, I'm a little less impressed. Too heavy-handed on the deep and meaningful.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

Finished "Unraveled" by Maggie Sefton Saturday. It's the latest in her Kelly Flynn knitting mystery series. She left us with quite the cliffhanger regarding Kelly's personal life in the last one, so I was anxious to see how that was going to turn out. Well, not to spoil anything, but it's still not completely resolved, though in a better place than it was at the end of the previous book.
Now reading "Dire Threads" by Janet Bolin. Debut mystery series about a town on Lake Erie devoted to fiber crafts: knitting, sewing, embroidery, etc. She keeps referring to things that happened before the main character moved from NYC though, makes me wonder if there might be a prequel in the future sometime.
I noticed that Debbie Macomber has come out with "The 21st Wish" in the Blossom St. series, so I guess I'll have to pick that up while I'm back on this crafty mystery kick.

Still trying to wade my way through "Magic Bites" by Ilona Andrews (the first Kate Daniels). I was so looking forward to reading this series, but it's not holding my interest as I'd hoped it would. I think it's me, not the book, though, because they're getting rave reviews and I know that several people here love them.

I can't find "The 21st Wish" -- is it out hardback? Amazon? Her website???

Do I have the author wrong??? Help!

[pilotbob]

I finished the Hunger Games trilogy a bit back... I certainly recommend it.

I have started my joint Hugo/Nebula winners with The God's Themselves by Asimov. Just started it so hard to critique yet.

BOb

[WT Sharpe]

I just finished two time travel books. I may have mentioned one; if I did, forgive me. One was The Faltese Malcom by Peter E. Abresch (audiobook). It was brought to my attention by dreams, and I thoroughly enjoyed it; especially since I recently read The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. In The Faltese Malcom, the protagonist finds himself repeatedly passing out or being knocked out, and each time he does, he awakes to find himself in 1920s San Francisco in the body of Solomon Paid ("S.Paid"), Private Eye. More to his consternation, he discovers that when he's in S. Paid's body, S. Paid is in his, causing havoc with his life in the present. Highly recommended.

The other was Borrowed Time by Keith Hughes, which got a lukewarm recommendation earlier in this thread by spiritualtramp. It wasn't bad, but I enjoyed The Faltese Malcom more, although that may be because I was in the mood for something a bit more lighthearted at the time I read it.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I just finished two time travel books. I may have mentioned one; if I did, forgive me. One was The Faltese Malcom by Peter E. Abresch (audiobook). It was brought to my attention by dreams, and I thoroughly enjoyed it; especially since I recently read The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. In The Faltese Malcom, the protagonist finds himself repeatedly passing out or being knocked out, and each time he does, he awakes to find himself in 1920s San Francisco in the body of Solomon Paid ("S.Paid"), Private Eye. More to his consternation, he discovers that when he's in S. Paid's body, S. Paid is in his, causing havoc with his life in the present. Highly recommended.

Thanks @WT and @dreams for the recommendation. I will seek it out and make use of my Amazon Fathers' Day gift voucher

[WT Sharpe]

Good show, orlok. I think you'll enjoy the book, although I don't believe it's available yet as an ebook. You can, however, download the audiobook for free at http://www.podiobooks.com/title/the-faltese-malcom. Donations are accepted, and after listening I shelled out the recommended donation of $9.99, but that's purely voluntary.

Solomon Paid ("S. Paid") is, of course, Sam Spade. Toward the end of the novel, Joshua Punch—the fellow who's been swapping bodies and timelines with S. Paid—speculates that if anyone ever decided to write an account of his and S. Paid's adventure involving the Maltese Falcon, they would probably change the names.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

I can't find "The 21st Wish" -- is it out hardback? Amazon? Her website???

Do I have the author wrong??? Help!

No, my bad. I mistook the FictFact notification that it was added to her series as a notice that it was out. Well it IS out, sort of but it's a novella in an anthology called The Knitting Diaries. Amazon lists it as Blossom St. 6.5. Here's the link and sorry for the confusion!

http://www.amazon.com/Knitting-Diari...8808454&sr=8-1

[Crusader]

I'm still busy with Neal Asher's Cormac series. I'm on book 4, Polity Agent, and loving it. However I have to take a break from it so I can get some of my freelance work done. Working on a deadline sucks if you really want to read something.

[siraks]

just finished the misadventures of a hollywood geek : olivia munn and also finished hounded the first book in the iron druid chronicles.
now on to hexed for part 2 of the chronicles and possibly

this : the sisters brothers - amazon link
or
this : robopocalypse - amazon link

[techmobby]

I'm reading self improvement litterature, mostly. "Online business" books are also a popular pick for me.

[thinkpad]

Currently reading book 3 in series: Song of Ice and Fire. Still a lot of new names and new places like in the first two books