Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? - Page 2005

DiapDealer · 06-03-2021, 06:28 PM

After a lot of interruptions and restarts, I finally finished "Madhouse at the End of the Earth." An account (by Julian Sancton) of a turn of the century polar expedition that survived being frozen in ice for an entire Antarctic winter.

Not my first non-fiction "frozen in (Ant)arctic ice" nautical rodeo any means, but probably my least favorite so far. Just a bit too clinical and overly distanced from the action for my tastes. Not to mention the punishingly long and wandering last chapter that served as an epilogue of epic proportions. Still interesting--especially in light of the fact that Roald Amundsen was first mate on the expedition. Sort of a practice run for his later famous exploits, I guess. Also present was Frederick Cook who served as ship surgeon and photographer.

taosaur · 06-03-2021, 07:47 PM

Ancient aliens help me, I've picked up a litRPG, and it is bubblegum genre crack. I'm nearly done with book 2 of the Shadow Sun Survival series, and averaging something like a day and a half per book. I suspect I'm looking at the higher end of this sub-genre, as the quality is much higher than I was expecting from "video game books." I can't say how much appeal this genre would have for people who don't have a soft spot for DnD, Fallout, Skyrim, Final Fantasy and the like, but for me the premise of "what if life were literally a video game with levels and stats?" turns out to be much less absurd than expected.

gmw · 06-03-2021, 10:32 PM

The Last Balfour by Cait Duggan. A YA fantasy about witches in sixteenth-century Scotland. This was a bit of a mixed bag. I found the first-person-present-tense annoying and inappropriate, but the story develops into a neat sort of fable or fairy tale which I started to enjoy, but then it lost that feel and became something more explicitly violent. The plot turned out to be less predictable than I first feared and it kept me entertained to the finish. And this book does finish up well enough, although it has obviously set up ready for a series of adventures (but no more have been released yet). The setting added an extra flavour to the text that I thought worked well. Somewhere around 3/5 I think.

CRussel · 06-04-2021, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

CR - you might try The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Vo's first novella in a cycle. It came out a while back and might be available. It will give you a good feel for her prose and style. I read it in one sitting and it was in my top ten for that year.

I'll look for it. But it turns out my BC library, which didn't even have one copy of The Chosen and the Beautiful went ahead and got one after I recommended it. Which they occasionally do, but not usually this quickly. So no wait - I'm first on the list.

ReadingManiac · 06-04-2021, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

A nonfiction title: Periodic Tales by Hugh Aldersey-Williams. A series of essays relating more to chemical elements from a cultural and historical perspective than a focus on the chemistry (science) so much.

Ooooh, that sounds interesting!

ReadingManiac · 06-04-2021, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PurpleStar

I finished Later by Stephen King. Started reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

What did you think of Later? I quite enjoyed that one.

DiapDealer · 06-04-2021, 08:25 AM

Currently reading Day Zero. A newly-released prequel to C. Robert Cargill's Sea of Rust (which I enjoyed a lot).

From the beginning; I know I've read portions of this story before, so it's either a novelization of a short story I've read (I hate when authors do that), or there was an excerpt of this book released a long time ago that I read--which is something I rarely do--and forgot about. So far I can't track down any short-story-origins for this book, so maybe it was an excerpt after all. But from the plot to the character names; I know I've read this part before.

PurpleStar · 06-04-2021, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

What did you think of Later? I quite enjoyed that one.

Yeah it was a good one but Stephen King is usually good.

gmw · 06-04-2021, 11:08 AM

The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde. Third book of the Thursday Next series. I lost patience at around 20% and did not finish. Knowing how clever Fforde can be, I'm sure I was being given details that would become relevant later, in fact I'm fairly sure I picked out a few of them, but I don't care enough to be bothered finding out. For the most part it seemed to be an endless gag-reel about literature intended to demonstrate how clever and funny the author could be. It all got too much for me. I liked the novelty (pun intended) of the first book of the series, and I thought the second was messy but okay. Now this. Given the trajectory I think I will give up on this series ... but not on the author whose inventiveness is quite fascinating.

DiapDealer · 06-04-2021, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmw

The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde. Third book of the Thursday Next series. I lost patience at around 20% and did not finish. Knowing how clever Fforde can be, I'm sure I was being given details that would become relevant later, in fact I'm fairly sure I picked out a few of them, but I don't care enough to be bothered finding out. For the most part it seemed to be an endless gag-reel about literature intended to demonstrate how clever and funny the author could be. It all got too much for me. I liked the novelty (pun intended) of the first book of the series, and I thought the second was messy but okay. Now this. Given the trajectory I think I will give up on this series ... but not on the author whose inventiveness is quite fascinating.

I may have made it a little farther than you, but I generally had a very similar reaction to yours. Enough is enough.

haertig · 06-04-2021, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Currently reading Day Zero. A newly-released prequel to C. Robert Cargill's Sea of Rust (which I enjoyed a lot).

These look interesting to me also. Should Sea of Rust be read first? (publication order)

DiapDealer · 06-04-2021, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haertig

These look interesting to me also. Should Sea of Rust be read first? (publication order)

It's not supposed to matter. I'm typically a publication order stickler, but in this instance, there seems to be a case for reading the prequel first. Seems many fans of Sea of Rust liked Day Zero less. Those who read the prequel first tend to like both. Go with your gut.

DiapDealer · 06-05-2021, 10:17 AM

Finished up Day Zero. Not quite the emotional impact that Sea of Rust delivered, in my opinion. But still quite enjoyable. I just wish I could figure out where I've read portions of it before. It bugs me something fierce that I can't find any short stories in any ezines/anthologies, nor any excerpts released before May 2021.

Tarana · 06-05-2021, 11:11 AM

Finished Pandemic by Robin Cook. It was interesting to know that NYC did actually have a plan for a pandemic but unfortunately, we know now that they didn't have enough PPE by a long shot. Good thriller.

Now on to Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. I listened to the audiobook 6 years ago and recently acquired the ebook for cheap.

DiapDealer · 06-05-2021, 01:22 PM

Starting Benjamin Percy's The Ninth Metal. First in a series.

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06-03-2021, 06:28 PM	#30061
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,587 Karma: 204624552 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	After a lot of interruptions and restarts, I finally finished "Madhouse at the End of the Earth." An account (by Julian Sancton) of a turn of the century polar expedition that survived being frozen in ice for an entire Antarctic winter. Not my first non-fiction "frozen in (Ant)arctic ice" nautical rodeo any means, but probably my least favorite so far. Just a bit too clinical and overly distanced from the action for my tastes. Not to mention the punishingly long and wandering last chapter that served as an epilogue of epic proportions. Still interesting--especially in light of the fact that Roald Amundsen was first mate on the expedition. Sort of a practice run for his later famous exploits, I guess. Also present was Frederick Cook who served as ship surgeon and photographer.

06-03-2021, 07:47 PM	#30062
taosaur intelligent posterior Posts: 1,562 Karma: 21295618 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ohiopolis Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Samsung S8, Lenovo Tab 3 Pro	Ancient aliens help me, I've picked up a litRPG, and it is bubblegum genre crack. I'm nearly done with book 2 of the Shadow Sun Survival series, and averaging something like a day and a half per book. I suspect I'm looking at the higher end of this sub-genre, as the quality is much higher than I was expecting from "video game books." I can't say how much appeal this genre would have for people who don't have a soft spot for DnD, Fallout, Skyrim, Final Fantasy and the like, but for me the premise of "what if life were literally a video game with levels and stats?" turns out to be much less absurd than expected.

06-03-2021, 10:32 PM	#30063
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,818 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	*The Last Balfour* by Cait Duggan. A YA fantasy about witches in sixteenth-century Scotland. This was a bit of a mixed bag. I found the first-person-present-tense annoying and inappropriate, but the story develops into a neat sort of fable or fairy tale which I started to enjoy, but then it lost that feel and became something more explicitly violent. The plot turned out to be less predictable than I first feared and it kept me entertained to the finish. And this book does finish up well enough, although it has obviously set up ready for a series of adventures (but no more have been released yet). The setting added an extra flavour to the text that I thought worked well. Somewhere around 3/5 I think.

06-04-2021, 08:25 AM	#30067
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,587 Karma: 204624552 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Currently reading Day Zero. A newly-released prequel to C. Robert Cargill's Sea of Rust (which I enjoyed a lot). From the beginning; I know I've read portions of this story before, so it's either a novelization of a short story I've read (I hate when authors do that), or there was an excerpt of this book released a long time ago that I read--which is something I rarely do--and forgot about. So far I can't track down any short-story-origins for this book, so maybe it was an excerpt after all. But from the plot to the character names; I know I've read this part before.

06-04-2021, 11:08 AM	#30069
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,818 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	*The Well of Lost Plots* by Jasper Fforde. Third book of the Thursday Next series. I lost patience at around 20% and did not finish. Knowing how clever Fforde can be, I'm sure I was being given details that would become relevant later, in fact I'm fairly sure I picked out a few of them, but I don't care enough to be bothered finding out. For the most part it seemed to be an endless gag-reel about literature intended to demonstrate how clever and funny the author could be. It all got too much for me. I liked the novelty (pun intended) of the first book of the series, and I thought the second was messy but okay. Now this. Given the trajectory I think I will give up on this series ... but not on the author whose inventiveness is quite fascinating.

06-05-2021, 10:17 AM	#30073
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,587 Karma: 204624552 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Finished up Day Zero. Not quite the emotional impact that Sea of Rust delivered, in my opinion. But still quite enjoyable. I just wish I could figure out where I've read portions of it before. It bugs me something fierce that I can't find any short stories in any ezines/anthologies, nor any excerpts released before May 2021.

06-05-2021, 11:11 AM	#30074
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,038 Karma: 38840460 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	Finished Pandemic by Robin Cook. It was interesting to know that NYC did actually have a plan for a pandemic but unfortunately, we know now that they didn't have enough PPE by a long shot. Good thriller. Now on to Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. I listened to the audiobook 6 years ago and recently acquired the ebook for cheap.

06-05-2021, 01:22 PM	#30075
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,587 Karma: 204624552 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Starting Benjamin Percy's The Ninth Metal. First in a series.

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