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

[BenG]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Let us know what you think of book 2 in the series. I just finished Rendezvous with Rama and was going to continue with the series but was dissuaded by someone here who said that the first book was the only one worth reading.

A book with the same premise as Rendezvous with Rama but with a different plot is All Judgment Fled by James White. I won't say it's better but it does have a faster paced plot. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn't seem to have a digital version for sale.

[John F]

Originally Posted by kcladyz

I am reading Arthur C Clarke Rama series. I am on book 2. I am so in love with this Arthur.

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Let us know what you think of book 2 in the series. I just finished Rendezvous with Rama and was going to continue with the series but was dissuaded by someone here who said that the first book was the only one worth reading.

I just recently finished Rendezvous with Rama (as part of my SF/Fantasy award winners reading). Enjoyed it, but from comments I've read, I'm not going to continue the series right away.

I'm currently reading The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. I plan on reading the three book series.

[Fbone]

My library added Hoopla recently so I've been reading books they have on my wishlist.

Read Hothouse by Brian W. Aldiss. I loved the world-building and the characters; plant, animal and human. The humans were a varied lot. Aldiss constantly surprised me with his inventiveness. The story reached a point where people have to make a choice basically stay with the familiar or leave to explore the unknown. Nicely done. A strong B [4 stars].

Then I read The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold. Interesting ideas although I'll admit to not understanding all of the the temporal paradoxes and excising. Some of the material was, frankly, gross but probably was necessary for the author to "loop" the character. In the end, it seems to me we all have the same goals and desires. Rated C [3 stars].

[HarryT]

A couple of books read in the last week:

"The Warrior Lives", by Joel Rosenberg; the fifth book in his "Guardians of the Flame" fantasy series. Very enjoyable and a nicely concludes the series (although there are later books in the series).

"Bolt", by Dick Francis. A sequel to "Break-in", unusually for Francis, most of whose books are standalone. Amazon description:

Jockey Kit Fielding's patron, Princess Casilia, is in trouble. Her invalid husband is being threatened by a ruthless business partner who wants to use the firm to manufacture arms. At the same time, some of the Princess's best horses are being killed - shot by a bolt.

The only person the Princess can turn to is Kit - but he has problems of his own. His fiance Danielle has taken a shine to another man. And his old feud with Maynard Allardeck, racing steward and hereditary enemy of the Fieldings, might lose him his license to race.

Between riding winners (and trying to save his impending marriage) Kit has somehow to find out and stop who is slaughtering the horses.

But, as he's about to discover, the killer has more than horses in his sights . . .

Excellent, but do read "Break-in" first!

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by HarryT

"The Warrior Lives", by Joel Rosenberg; the fifth book in his "Guardians of the Flame" fantasy series. Very enjoyable and a nicely concludes the series (although there are later books in the series).

I remember reading that when it came out. There is a direct connection between it and my reflexive loathing for the Wheel of Time series. (Seriously. No lie.)

[JSWolf]

I've finished The Tall Delores by Michael Avallone. It's the first book in the Ed Noon series and I rather enjoyed it.

Now I'm onto Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Enigma Tales by Una McCormack.

Elim Garak has ascended to Castellan of the Cardassian Union...but despite his soaring popularity, the imminent publication of a report exposing his people's war crimes during the occupation on Bajor looks likely to set the military against him. Into this tense situation come Dr. Katherine Pulaski—visiting Cardassia Prime to accept an award on behalf of the team that solved the Andorian genetic crisis—and Dr. Peter Alden, formerly of Starfleet Intelligence. The two soon find themselves at odds with Garak and embroiled in the politics of the prestigious University of the Union, where a new head is about to be appointed. Among the front-runners is one of Cardassia’s most respected public figures: Professor Natima Lang. But the discovery of a hidden archive from the last years before the Dominion War could destroy Lang’s reputation. As Pulaski and Alden become drawn into a deadly game to exonerate Lang, their confrontation escalates with Castellan Garak—a conflicted leader treading a fine line between the bright hopes for Cardassia’s future and the dark secrets still buried in its past...

[Dngrsone]

Finished Tracker, book 16 of the Foreigner series by C. J. Cherryh. Which means I am almost caught up.

Next up, Burn Baby Burn: A Supervillain Novel by James Maxey. Not as solid a series as others I've read, but terrible either.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Also reading Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz

Finished the Asimovs (which was OK to good) and Odd Apocalypse (which was, as usual, weirdly wonderful).

Then I read the latest Grantville Gazette (#73), which was very good.

And now I'm reading Fallen into the Pit by Ellis Peters, the first of her Domenic Felse mysteries. I have read it before, long ago, but I'm enjoying the re-read.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

I remember reading that when it came out. There is a direct connection between it and my reflexive loathing for the Wheel of Time series. (Seriously. No lie.)

Can you elaborate?

[Fbone]

Just read Clive Francis' adaptation of Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene courtesy of Hoopla. I would have preferred the novel but this gave me the gist of the story and introduced me to Greene. It seems his novels aren't available as ebooks in US.

Next, is Dorsai! by Gordon R. Dickson another Hoopla borrow.

[HarryT]

Finished "Hot Money", by Dick Francis. Malcolm Pembroke is a multi-millionaire gold dealer who has been married 5 times, with 9 children from his various marriages. When his 5th wife is murdered, and this is followed by several attempts of Malcolm's own life, his son Ian, an amateur jockey (there had to be a racing connection somewhere in this ) sets out to try to find who in the family is the murderer.

Absolutely excellent. Perhaps the best in the series yet, although it has many rivals for top spot!

[Dngrsone]

Finished Burn Baby Burn, a tale of life, death, pain and redemption.

But then, I've had less than two hours of sleep tonight, so YMMV.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now I'm reading Fallen into the Pit by Ellis Peters, the first of her Domenic Felse mysteries. I have read it before, long ago, but I'm enjoying the re-read.

And most enjoyable it was too.

Next up: Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton. Let's see if that special offer buy was a mistake or not...

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And most enjoyable it was too.

Next up: Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton. Let's see if that special offer buy was a mistake or not...

I'm hoping to start that one soonish. It was also a special offer buy for me, but long enough ago that it is now one of my oldest unread paid ebooks.

I apparently paid £1 for it on the 26th December 2010, just 2 months after I got my first Kindle. It's probably about time I read it. I'd guess I'm still about a month away from starting it, though.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

I remember reading that when it came out. There is a direct connection between it and my reflexive loathing for the Wheel of Time series. (Seriously. No lie.)

Originally Posted by HarryT

Can you elaborate?

Sure, but you may be disappointed.

When TWL was published, I was reading the Fidonet SFF discussion area, commonly called SFLIT because of its focus on books instead of media. I didn't have a PC at the time, only an Apple II clone, which meant offline reading was not an option... and this being a reasonably high-traffic national echo (that's what we called discussion areas where messages were exchanged between multiple BBS systems), keeping up with traffic meant dealing with about 130 messages per day.

In the space of sixty minutes. When quoting messages meant typing the quoted parts manually, because no ANSI support meant I could only use the primitive line editor to compose messages. This was not a small task.

Anyway, at the time, there were two major discussion topics: TWL, which I was quite interested in following, and Wheel of Time, which I was rather not. At first, the Wheel topic was just a nuisance, but as it grew, so did my impatience at having to skip past more and more of "those damned Wheel of Time posts" that were burning up my daily time limit... and eventually impatience evolved into annoyance, finally approaching hatred.

Classic aversion therapy, really. Intellectually, I know better than to blame the books or the author for the circumstance, but the reflexive reaction remains.

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

Finished Burn Baby Burn, a tale of life, death, pain and redemption.

FYI, there's a third book in the series now. Found out when I saw the short-term giveaway on Nobody Gets the Girl.