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

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

Excellent, thanks. I wasn't trying to denigrate StoryGraph, just to be clear; it was only that I've never understood buddy reads there. I never upgrade my status until completion, although obviously I could if incumbent on me for a discussion.

I'm looking forward to this; I think it's the kick in the ass nudge I needed to tackle the book. Back in my salad days, those who read it read an abridged version and that's against my religion.

I have the Standard Ebooks edition, which I think was like 3 years in the making. I might poke around and see if I can find any good companion materials.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I have the Standard Ebooks edition, which I think was like 3 years in the making. I might poke around and see if I can find any good companion materials.

One of my libraries has the Penguin version, which I'll try to get closer to the time so I can read the front matter; if Amazon does its usual percent of text method for samples, I can't imagine it wouldn't take in all of the introductory bits. Of course one must tread warily, as they tend to be spoilery (although most who take it on must already know the major plot point).

I'll note that Audible has a two-volume multi-narrator version. I stick at two credits for a single book, even though on a cost per hour basis it's still a bargain!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now the first volume of Robin Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy.

Which was very good, but not in the same universe as their Fitz/Rain Wilds novels.

I followed that with Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire, an excellent first book in urban fantasy series


Next up: The Quantum War by Derek Künsken, the third in his Quantum War trilogy.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And I enjoyed it.

Next I read the first two of Simon Brett's Mrs Pargeter series. Fun.

And now the first volume of Robin Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy.

I haven't read Robin Hobb in like 20 years. Wonder if it would hold up for me.

[fantasyfan]

This is meant to be a general review of all of the “Echoes of the Past” Science-Fantasy Trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky.The three books do form an integrated whole.

First one must note the kind of narrative world we have. All of the action takes place in a world where people are “double souled”, that is, one aspect of the nature is human and the other aspect or soul is linked to a particular animal. The novel opens with a clan in which the members are able to “step’ between being wolves or humans. They may step back and forth instantly at will and the animal form will carry any attributes of the human soul including the weapons they wield and the armour they wear. This is the key to the titles of the three books. “The Tiger and the Wolf”refers to the heroine, Maniye, who has a father in the wolf clan and a mother linked to the Tigers. Thus Book 2, “The Bear and the Serpent” and the final volume, “The Hyena and the Hawk” refer to characters with specific abilities linked to those shape-shifting manifestations. It is also possible for some to shift to a “Champion” manifestation with very special strengths.

The technology of the world is primarily Late Neolithic with the major civilisation being in the Bronze Age. The Wolf clan alone can make limited use of iron.

Finally. There are “the Plague People”. They have an extremely sinister connotation to all other groups who have a deep fear of them. They apparently cannot step and are thus perceived as “hollow”. Through them Tchaikovsky develops themes of social and cultural conflict which are still relevant today.

“Echoes of The Fall’ is an earlier work of the author and perhaps does not reach the heights of the “Chldren of Time” sequence but it is still a remarkable Science-Fantasy creating a unique world which reflects some disturbing similarities to our own civilisation.

[John F]

Originally Posted by fantasyfan

This is meant to be a general review of all of the “Echoes of the Past” Science-Fantasy Trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky.The three books do form an integrated whole.

First one must note the kind of narrative world we have. All of the action takes place in a world where people are “double souled”, that is, one aspect of the nature is human and the other aspect or soul is linked to a particular animal. The novel opens with a clan in which the members are able to “step’ between being wolves or humans. They may step back and forth instantly at will and the animal form will carry any attributes of the human soul including the weapons they wield and the armour they wear. This is the key to the titles of the three books. “The Tiger and the Wolf”refers to the heroine, Maniye, who has a father in the wolf clan and a mother linked to the Tigers. Thus Book 2, “The Bear and the Serpent” and the final volume, “The Hyena and the Hawk” refer to characters with specific abilities linked to those shape-shifting manifestations. It is also possible for some to shift to a “Champion” manifestation with very special strengths.

The technology of the world is primarily Late Neolithic with the major civilisation being in the Bronze Age. The Wolf clan alone can make limited use of iron.

Finally. There are “the Plague People”. They have an extremely sinister connotation to all other groups who have a deep fear of them. They apparently cannot step and are thus perceived as “hollow”. Through them Tchaikovsky develops themes of social and cultural conflict which are still relevant today.

The above sounds more like a summary to me.

“Echoes of The Fall’ is an earlier work of the author and perhaps does not reach the heights of the “Chldren of Time” sequence but it is still a remarkable Science-Fantasy creating a unique world which reflects some disturbing similarities to our own civilisation.

This sounds more like a review.

IMO.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: The Quantum War by Derek Künsken, the third in his Quantum War trilogy.

Very good, but clearly needs a sequel. Stopped at a reasonable point, IMO, but some might consider it a cliff-hanger.

Next I read Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. I thought this was a straight historical fiction, but it turned out to have elements of fantasy that I didn't think worked well with the historical realism.

Only 3/5. I'm not sure I was really convinced by any of the characters.

Next up: Hands Down by Felix Francis. A new Sid Halley novel! I'm enjoying it so far.

[drofgnal]

I decided to pick up the two books after the Genesis of Shannara trilogy. The Bearers of the Black Staff and The Measure of the Magic. About half way through the first one and it's a good follow on to the Genesis books. Up next Follet's fifth Kingsbridge novel.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Hands Down by Felix Francis. A new Sid Halley novel! I'm enjoying it so far.

And very enjoyable it was too.

Next up: A Local Habitation. The second in Seanan McGuire's October Daye series.

[JSWolf]

I'm currently reading The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly.

I've seen the first season of the Netflix show based on this series and found it to be quite good. So far the first book is good.

[alansplace]

Try this movie...

The Lincoln Lawyer

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm currently reading The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly.

I've seen the first season of the Netflix show based on this series and found it to be quite good. So far the first book is good.

The second season was very good too. But I believe the first and second season follow book 4 and 5, so if you want to read them first then I’d wait.

[Martinoptic]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Hands Down by Felix Francis. A new Sid Halley novel! I'm enjoying it so far.

Thanks for the recommendation. It’s 99p at Kobo UK at the moment.

[astrangerhere]

I'm reading Joan Didion's essay Fixed Ideas: America Since 9.11. from the New York Review, which was later published as a very slim volume book. Written in 2003, it is a reflection on the two weeks following the initial attack and the rhetoric wars they birthed.

In fact it was in the reflexive repetition of the word "hero" that we began to hear what would become in the year that followed an entrenched preference for ignoring the meaning of the event in favour of an impenetrably flattening celebration of its victims, and a troublingly belligerent idealisation of historical ignorance.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by drofgnal

The second season was very good too. But I believe the first and second season follow book 4 and 5, so if you want to read them first then I’d wait.

The first season of The Lincoln Lawyer is based on book 2 and the 2nd season is based on book 4.