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

[John F]

Finished A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin.

Currently reading The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri.

Next up will be A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin.


To be continued...

[DiapDealer]

Just started reading Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. Even though he's probably best known for his ten-part "Shadows of the Apt" fantasy series, I've chosen to reward him for writing this great-big honking stand-alone generational scifi tale of uplift and exploration instead.

Winner of the 2016 Arthur C. Clarke Award, by the way.

[Dngrsone]

Now reading Defender by C. J. Cherryh.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

It was OK. An interesting idea, and the characters were OK, but I was unconvinced by some events in the first half, and entirely sceptical of events in the second half.

Spoiler:

If the characters in the first half did manage to survive, there's no way that their descendants would be in the situation described FIVE THOUSAND years later!

Next up: Enemies at Home by Lindsey Davis. The second in her Flavia Alba series, which follows Falco's adopted daughter's career.

[HarryT]

Finished "The Far Side of the Stars", by David Drake. This is the third book in the "Lieutenant Leary" series. The Republic of Cinnabar is at peace and Leary at a loose end, and so together with his friend Adele Mundy, he agrees to captain an expedition into a little-known region of the galaxy for a wealthy aristocrat, in search of a long-lost treasure. All, however, does not go according to plan...

I wasn't too impressed with the first book in this series, but the second book was good, and this one (which I bought from Baen in 2003) is absolutely excellent. If the series continues going in this direction I look forward to reading the rest of it. Highly recommended SF.

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

And next up are ... Doubt by C E Tobisman (first in a series [Caroline Auden]; not sure but I think I picked this up from the Kindle First selections for July), Closed Circles by Viveca Sten (book two in the Sandhamn Murders; the first book [Still Waters] was another Kindle First selection a while back; it was a great mystery) and, yes (!), Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home

I DNFed Doubt this morning. It's supposed to be a legal thriller; OK, there was a murder in the opening pages - that was thrilling. From then to 25% in I'm stuck in Caroline's head dealing with her myriad insecurities (a whine-fest ) - so not thrilling. So done.

Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home is another enjoyable entry in the series; I'm having a great time with these books.

And Closed Circles was a great read - I'm excited for the next book in the series to be translated (do hurry, Amazon!).

My next-ups are ... I'm not quite sure about these but I have the first 3 books in the Ripple series, two I got on the cheap ($0.99 each) and the other for free. They're YA, which is not really my thing, but I've had them over 4 years now so I'll give them a chance: Rippler, Chameleon, and Unfurl.

[BenG]

Last week I finished The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Great fantasy! I'm now waiting patiently for day three.

Over the weekend I read When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger. Excellent Middle Eastern cyberpunk

I'm currently reading The Madonna and the Starship by James K. Morrow.
A funny satire about 50s TV, space aliens, religion, and SF.

[DrNefario]

I finished One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie on Sunday. Quite an enjoyable Poirot, with thrillerish tendencies. Specifically interesting to me, though, because it explicitly mentions the Case of the Augean Stables, which is one of the stories collected in The Labours of Hercules.

This book is from 1940, and Labours wasn't published until 1947. I had thought the stories were later - possibly even original to the collection - but now I realise I was misled by the fact that my otherwise-chronological Complete Stories collection includes the introduction to Labours before the 12 stories. Ultimately this just means I can get on and read the last few Poirot shorts now instead of waiting until I reach 1947, which is still quite a few books away.

Anyway, after that I started on The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard, which is interesting so far. It's not one of the seven books I bought in a moment of weakness in the Gollancz sale at the weekend. It was in the sale, but I already owned it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

This book is from 1940, and Labours wasn't published until 1947. I had thought the stories were later - possibly even original to the collection - but now I realise I was misled by the fact that my otherwise-chronological Complete Stories collection includes the introduction to Labours before the 12 stories. Ultimately this just means I can get on and read the last few Poirot shorts now instead of waiting until I reach 1947, which is still quite a few books away.

The stories in the collection were all originally published in magazines between 1939 and 1947, so it sounds as if "The Augean Stables" was one of the earlier ones.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I finished One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie on Sunday.

Very enjoyable, indeed. One of the last Poirot books I've read. As a guide, let's just say that I found Orient express to slow to reread.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Finished "The Far Side of the Stars", by David Drake. This is the third book in the "Lieutenant Leary" series. The Republic of Cinnabar is at peace and Leary at a loose end, and so together with his friend Adele Mundy, he agrees to captain an expedition into a little-known region of the galaxy for a wealthy aristocrat, in search of a long-lost treasure. All, however, does not go according to plan...

I wasn't too impressed with the first book in this series, but the second book was good, and this one (which I bought from Baen in 2003) is absolutely excellent. If the series continues going in this direction I look forward to reading the rest of it. Highly recommended SF.

I may have to go back and give these a re-try. I read the first one, thought "meh", but at least started the second one, then somehow found other things to read. Might be worth a re-think. (As if I didn't have enough to read right now.)

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by BenG

Last week I finished The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Great fantasy! I'm now waiting patiently for day three.

You and the rest of the world for the last upteen years.

There is a shorter work that's about a Day 2.5 from him. The Slow Regard of Silent Things. It's about 100 pages.

[Luffy]

I've been re reading The Missing Dough by Chris Cavender. I'm going to finish it today. And I've just started re reading, for the second time, GoT5, A dance with dragons. Also up in the air, is The Deed of Paksenarrion, but that will take a while. I don't want to ditch Paks, because the writing seems good, but if nothing exciting happens in the next 2 chapters, then I'll DNF it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Luffy

Also up in the air, is The Deed of Paksenarrion, but that will take a while. I don't want to ditch Paks, because the writing seems good, but if nothing exciting happens in the next 2 chapters, then I'll DNF it.

Sorry you're not enjoying it. It's one of my all-time favourites.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Enemies at Home by Lindsey Davis. The second in her Flavia Alba series, which follows Falco's adopted daughter's career.

Most enjoyable. I shall keep an eye out for a sale on the third one.

Next up: The Dawn of Amber by John Gregory Betancourt

An authorised prequel to Zelazny's Amber stories.