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

[JSWolf]

I've got three books going.

Lies, Damned Lies, and History by Jodi Taylor (Chronicles of St Mary's #7) I'm both listening to this and reading it. Not at the same time.

Rules are meant to be broken, aren't they?

'I've done some stupid things in my time. I've been reckless. I've broken a few rules. But never before have I ruined so many lives or left such a trail of destruction behind me.'

Max has never been one for rules. They tend to happen to other people.

But this time she's gone too far. And everyone at St Mary's is paying the price.

With the History Department disintegrating around her and grounded until the end of time, how can she ever put things right?

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir I'm listening to this and it's excellent. Ray Porter is the narrator.

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

The Drowned World by J. G. Ballard

When London is lost beneath the rising tides, unconscious desires rush to the surface.

Fluctuations in solar radiation have melted the ice caps, sending the planet into a new Triassic Age of unendurable heat. London is a swamp; lush tropical vegetation grows up the walls of the Ritz and primeval reptiles are sighted, swimming through the newly-formed lagoons.

Some flee the capital; others remain to pursue reckless schemes, either in the name of science or profit. While the submerged streets of London are drained in search of treasure, Dr Robert Kerans – part of a group of intrepid scientists – comes to accept this submarine city and finds himself strangely resistant to the idea of saving it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And it was.

Then I read Bones at the Manor House by Emma Jameson. More fun in early WWII English countryside.

And I followed it up with Enquiry by Dick Francis. I enjoyed the re-read.

Now I'm reading The Killing Time by Elly Griffiths. The second in her Ali Dawson time-travel series. I've really liked her other books, but I don't think I'll continue this series once I finish this book. There's just no logic to any of it. Which might the the point of something involving time travel. This book'll have to have a seriously good last 12% to change my mind on the series.

If you want an excellent series that uses time travel and is a lot of fun to read, read The Chronicles of St Mary's by Jodi Taylor. The first 5 stories in order are...
The Very First Damned Thing (short story)
Just One Damned Thing After Another
A Symphony of Echoes
When a Child is Born (short story)
A Second Chance

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you want an excellent series that uses time travel and is a lot of fun to read, read The Chronicles of St Mary's by Jodi Taylor. The first 5 stories in order are...
The Very First Damned Thing (short story)
Just One Damned Thing After Another
A Symphony of Echoes
When a Child is Born (short story)
A Second Chance

I read the first three of these back in 2016.

I liked the first half of the first one. The second half not so much.

The second one I didn't really like.

I really didn't like the third, and dropped the series.

I think three novels is enough. I won't be trying this series again.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I read this a few years ago! I remember thinking that Pym was very good at writing very unlikable characters.

It was very readable. And I didn't abandon it, which says something for its quality. But not a book I intend to ever read again.

I think I was just hoping against hope that something interesting would happen!