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

[Luffy]

My 2 star review of The Maharani's Pearls (Bess Crawford, #6.5), by Charles Todd:-

Spoiler:

Harmless but sleight of the hand manipulation story about nothing in particular. It looked like the authors compressed a sparse plot into a purposefully sparser page count to tout it as substantive.

The Maharani's Pearls aren't lost so that Bess Crawford can look for them. But to know what their role is, is up to you if you still want to fork wonga for this short story.

I'm a guy of Indian ancestry, though I live in Mauritius. I think the mutiny of 1857 is seen by Indians as noble and by the British as nightmarish. This discrepancy in ideas has never been addressed. Not that I expected this humble book to do so. Just throwing it out there for some musing. Bye for now.

[gmw]

The Bohr Maker by Linda Nagata, first book of the "Nanotech Succession". Nanotechnology used to rewrite genetic code, and consciousness can bounce around between virtual and semi-virtual realities as "ghosts". I was hoping for more depth than I found, but the sci-fi was mostly just there as a fantastical setting. Read as a fantasy it was an entertaining ride, so I'm giving it a 3/5. (Apparently each book is stand alone, certainly this book finished off quite well.)

[ReadingManiac]

Finished Later by Stephen King and really enjoyed it.

About to start George R.R. Martin's prequel to the Fire and Ice series, Fire & Blood. Its supposed to give the ancient history of the Targaryns.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by gmw

The Bohr Maker by Linda Nagata, first book of the "Nanotech Succession". Nanotechnology used to rewrite genetic code, and consciousness can bounce around between virtual and semi-virtual realities as "ghosts". I was hoping for more depth than I found, but the sci-fi was mostly just there as a fantastical setting. Read as a fantasy it was an entertaining ride, so I'm giving it a 3/5. (Apparently each book is stand alone, certainly this book finished off quite well.)

I'm a Nagata fan, too. I read the the Nanotech Succession because I didn't want to start her Inverted Fontier series without the background. I actually started with the Tech-Heaven prequel which while short and OK, was not really necessary. The Bohr Maker definitely finished stronger than it started. The subsequent novels get a little convoluted, but still quite good.

I like to think I'm enjoying the Inverted Frontier series more--having read The Nanotech Succession--but there's no way of knowing for sure.

I've really enjoyed her near-future sci-fi stuff, too. The Trials, The Last Good Man, etc...

She's a good example of a modern author who is published in paper traditionally, but has managed to forge contracts where she retains the rights to publish her own ebooks.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Luffy

My 2 star review of The Maharani's Pearls (Bess Crawford, #6.5), by Charles Todd:-

Spoiler:

Harmless but sleigh of the hand manipulation story about nothing in particular. It looked like the authors compressed a sparse plot into a purposefully sparser page count to tout it as substantive.

The Maharani's Pearls aren't lost so that Bess Crawford can look for them. But what their role is, is up to you if you still want to fork wonga for this short story.

I'm a guy of Indian ancestry, though I live in Mauritius. I think the mutiny of 1857 is seen by Indians as noble and by the British as nightmarish. This discrepancy in ideas has never been addressed. Not that I expected this humble book to do so. Just throwing it out there for some musing. Bye for now.

I abandoned the first book in this series; too many anachronisms. Pity, as I’d liked their Ian Rutledge series.

[Luffy]

Originally Posted by issybird

I abandoned the first book in this series; too many anachronisms. Pity, as I’d liked their Ian Rutledge series.

The Rutledge books are similar in one or two ways to Anne Perry's William Monk series. I lost interest in both.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by gmw

The Bohr Maker by Linda Nagata, first book of the "Nanotech Succession". Nanotechnology used to rewrite genetic code, and consciousness can bounce around between virtual and semi-virtual realities as "ghosts". I was hoping for more depth than I found, but the sci-fi was mostly just there as a fantastical setting. Read as a fantasy it was an entertaining ride, so I'm giving it a 3/5. (Apparently each book is stand alone, certainly this book finished off quite well.)

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm a Nagata fan, too. I read the the Nanotech Succession because I didn't want to start her Inverted Fontier series without the background. I actually started with the Tech-Heaven prequel which while short and OK, was not really necessary. The Bohr Maker definitely finished stronger than it started. The subsequent novels get a little convoluted, but still quite good.

I like to think I'm enjoying the Inverted Frontier series more--having read The Nanotech Succession--but there's no way of knowing for sure.

I've really enjoyed her near-future sci-fi stuff, too. The Trials, The Last Good Man, etc...

She's a good example of a modern author who is published in paper traditionally, but has managed to forge contracts where she retains the rights to publish her own ebooks.

I've had The Bohr Maker in my TBR for ages. I really need to move it up the list.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: King of Ashes by Raymond E. Feist. The first in a newish trilogy from him that was a random pick from my TBR pile.

And very good it was too, in the usual Feist manner. The third volume should be out this year, so I'll wait a while before moving onto the second one.

Next up: Another random pick from my TBR pile, Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs. The fourth in her Temperance Brennan murder mystery series.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm a Nagata fan, too. I read the the Nanotech Succession because I didn't want to start her Inverted Fontier series without the background. I actually started with the Tech-Heaven prequel which while short and OK, was not really necessary. The Bohr Maker definitely finished stronger than it started. The subsequent novels get a little convoluted, but still quite good.

I like to think I'm enjoying the Inverted Frontier series more--having read The Nanotech Succession--but there's no way of knowing for sure.

I've really enjoyed her near-future sci-fi stuff, too. The Trials, The Last Good Man, etc...

She's a good example of a modern author who is published in paper traditionally, but has managed to forge contracts where she retains the rights to publish her own ebooks.

The Bohr Maker was my first from Nagata, so thanks for a run down on some of the others.

The "Summer House" from that story (I keep going to call it the "Summer Tree" ) put me in mind of the evolved spacefaring creatures from Gregory Benford's Beyond the Fall of Night (a sequel to Arthur C. Clarke's Against the Fall of Night which later became The City and the Stars). But I did like Nagata's story much better (I'm not a fan of Benford's book, to put it mildly).

[Fbone]

Finished a freebie, The Queen's Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler. While I thought some ideas were interesting and unique the rest was very mainstream. The characters didn't act their age or position. And several inconsistencies and/or unexplained actions left me questioning if I read the paragraph correctly or something was edited out. Decent skill but nothing here stands out and therefore easily forgettable. Rated D+ [2 stars].

After the last read I need some comedy so I'll start Spy Camp by Stuart Gibbs.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Another random pick from my TBR pile, Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs. The fourth in her Temperance Brennan murder mystery series.

And very good it was too. Either I appreciate them more, or they've got better. 5/5 this time.


Next up: The Longest Fall by Liu Cixin. A freebie I picked up in April 2014.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Longest Fall by Liu Cixin. A freebie I picked up in April 2014.

Which I find I've already read as part of a short story collection. So, unusually, not only marked as read, but actually deleted from my library as a duplicate.

Next up: Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser.

[Uncle Robin]

Halfway through The Detective's Daughter by Lesley Thomson. Remarkably good at evocative atmospheric descriptions of places and settings, the story itself is hard work Because I am halfway, I'll try to finish to find out whodunnit, but it's the beginning and end of the series for me.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser.

Fantastic series. One I’m spinning out as slowly as possible, right up there with the Aubrey/Maturin books.

[PraiseRao]

I'm in the middle of some new era High Republic Star Wars book(s). A problem I have is that I am writing and rereading my own book so I get kinda tired of reading books and I don't get my recreational books done as much as I should. Though I am looking forward to Chaos Rising Thrawn Ascendancy the second book in a trilogy about Thrawn in his Chiss homeworld.