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

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

An excellent novella by Adam-Troy Castro featuring Andrea Cort

Cool! Thanks for the info. I really enjoyed the first two Andrea Cort novels (and keep hoping against hope that an english version of the third materializes some day). I'll have to check out the novella sometime.

[elaysee]

I've been reading Catherine Aird's Inspector Sloan mysteries, the first two of which are The Religious Body and Henrietta Who?

The books are written and set in 60s-70s rural England, and I'd place them somewhere between cozy and police procedural. They're about the detective work and the case, without much personal life thrown in, but they're not heavy on the forensics. Definitely not graphic. I could do without the inspector's bumbling constable sidekick, but he's not pushed on us too much and a few books in he's being used more adeptly.

Overall, I won't claim these are mysteries for the ages, but I'm enjoying them, and a bit surprised I hadn't encountered them before.

[Rev. Bob]

I just finished Lexie Dunne's Superheroes Anonymous and immediately proceeded to the sequel, Supervillains Anonymous. If the second book also ends on a cliffhanger, I'm gonna be displeased.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Next up, something completely different -- the latest Vorkosigan Saga book, Gentlerman Jole and the Red Queen, from Lois McMaster Bujold. This one covers the changes on Sergyar following Aral's death, with Cordelia continuing as Vicereine. But life goes in unexpected ways.

I'm about 2/3rds through this book, and enjoying it a lot. It's not at all like those early Mad Miles books, but Ms. Bujold is a master of her craft, and a witty writer who has kept my interest throughout. Highly recommended.

Excellent. Highly recommended. And you don't _have_ to have read the earlier books in the series. But it probably helps. I enjoyed this one enough to be reminded how much I enjoy Bujold's books, so I'm starting all the way back at the very beginning -- Falling Free, the story of the Quaddies. Time to work through the whole series, or at least significant parts of it.

[Dngrsone]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

I just finished Lexie Dunne's Superheroes Anonymous and immediately proceeded to the sequel, Supervillains Anonymous. If the second book also ends on a cliffhanger, I'm gonna be displeased.

As I recall, it does not. Not high literature, but fun reads, the both of them.

I've started reading The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weekes

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Excellent. Highly recommended. And you don't _have_ to have read the earlier books in the series. But it probably helps. I enjoyed this one enough to be reminded how much I enjoy Bujold's books, so I'm starting all the way back at the very beginning -- Falling Free, the story of the Quaddies. Time to work through the whole series, or at least significant parts of it.

I still very much enjoyed the story of the Quaddies after all these years. A great invention, though the novel isn't by any means the best in the Vorkosiverse.

On to Shards of Honor, the first Cordelia novel in the universe, and the second chronologically. (This is a universe, with multiple entry points, and there's no requirement to read them in strict chronological order when approaching for the first time. But it makes sense to do so on a re-read.)

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The End of all Things by John Scalzi. A recent purchase - November 2015.

Very good, as expected. I would have preferred a standard novel format rather than having the story in the form of novellas from different viewpoints. But I can see why he did it that way.


Next up: Asimov's SF for February 2016.

[Dngrsone]

Finished The Prophecy Con, good read.

Started the third Prescription: Murder book, just to finish off the set. Tempted to pick up LoTR again, but it hasn't been a year since I read it last (guess what family dngrs was watching last night); I am due for a scifi or genlit book now, though...

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And also, Information is Beautiful by Davd McCandless (pbook)

Which I've now finished. It is a pretty book. But the subjects of the infographics are random, and not all the infographics are done as well as they might be. A fun coffee-table book.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Asimov's SF for February 2016.

And also, another gift in paper: What If? by Randall Munroe.

[MickeyC]

Just finished Origins of the Specious by Patricia Clark based on the reco by Dngrsone and it was very interesting. English is even more hosed up than I thought.

Next up The Bitter Season by Tami Hoag

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

On to Shards of Honor, the first Cordelia novel in the universe, and the second chronologically. (This is a universe, with multiple entry points, and there's no requirement to read them in strict chronological order when approaching for the first time. But it makes sense to do so on a re-read.)

And finished. Very much enjoyed, even as a re-read and knowing where the ugly parts are.

Next up, yet another in the Vorkosiverse, Barrayar. This tells of the birth of Miles Vorkosigan, amongst other significant events. After this one, I'll be taking a break from the series to read something else, but I think I'm up for this one more.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Next up is either Eric by Terry Pratchett or Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie although I may wait until I can get a new Kindle. I don't want to keep reading on my phone.

Eric is still on hold so I read Sphere by Michael Crichton (it was ok, not great), and then Beacon 23 by Hugh Howey (good but not as good as Wool or Sand), and then started Ancillary Justice last Thursday.

I just recieved word from my library that Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson, Mistborn #6, Wax and Wayne trilogy #2 (3rd overall), is available now too so I will start that in the morning so that the next person in line can get it faster. Bands of Mourning was just published tomorrow (it is 1/26 Eastern I guess).

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Asimov's SF for February 2016.

I liked one of the novelettes, "The Charge and the Storm", the other not so much; "Passion Summer" just didn't make enough of its idea, and was rather dreary.

Of the five short stories, I really liked "Exceptional Forces".

A good issue. And my 20th book read of the year.

Next up: Valour's Choice by Tanya Huff. The first in a series, and my first from this author. Mil SF.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

I just finished Lexie Dunne's Superheroes Anonymous and immediately proceeded to the sequel, Supervillains Anonymous. If the second book also ends on a cliffhanger, I'm gonna be displeased.

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

As I recall, it does not. Not high literature, but fun reads, the both of them.

Correct and agreed. The two make a decent origin story, and I'm curious to find out where the third book (due Septemberish) will go.

In the meantime, I read Action Figures - Issue 1: Secret Origins (acquired in a bundle) in one sitting right after finishing SVA, and I enjoyed it so much I wishlisted books three and four and bought book two. Unfortunately, those are Kindle-exclusive ebooks, so I had to convert book two before I could load it onto my Kobo. (I also ended up tinkering with the formatting quite a bit, as well as adding a proper TOC and splitting the handful of Big Chunky Text Files up by chapter. It looks a lot more like a proper ebook now.)

The Action Figures series is about a handful of teenagers who form a super-team. At least in the first book, the main narrator is a fifteen-year-old girl with flight and energy powers. It's a little disorienting to see a handful of third-person sections tossed in, but I got used to it after a bit. It's nice to see authentic teen characters in the book, as opposed to adults in young bodies; they're bright, but not Wise Beyond Their Years. They make boneheaded mistakes, sometimes serious ones, and the grown-up supers don't welcome them with open arms.

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Valour's Choice by Tanya Huff. The first in a series, and my first from this author. Mil SF.

I've got that in an omnibus volume with its sequel, as well as the next two books, in my paper TBR stacks. I swear I'll get to it one of these years...

Right now, though, I'm finally moving on with the second IFICS novel, Fractured Innocence. The first was about a girl coming to grips with the fact that she died and was "brought back" as a cyborg supersoldier; the second kicks off with her first field mission. If this goes well, I may go on with book three to complete the set (unless there's a fourth one now) before switching back to Action Figures 2.

[samhy]

Currently reading, and enjoying!, 11.22.63 by Stephen King.