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

[Dngrsone]

I am three-fourths of the way through the Nameless Dwarf books. Even though I am reading through an anthology, I am going to count them as separate books, and I am going to take a break before reading this last one.

[Rev. Bob]

Halfway through Leviathan Wakes, and really liking it. If it's not absolutely hard SF, it's close enough for me, and adding the mystery and politics just makes it a better read.

I'm currently taking a short break from that to see what this Spider-Man "Clone Conspiracy" story's all about. I wasn't able to avoid all the spoilers, and I really wish the comiXology version of the collected storyline could use hyperlinks to allow better navigation between subplots*, but I've figured out a workaround.

* The story arc involves four series. Instead of interweaving them, the collection has the core miniseries up front, followed by each of the three tie-in series, with the concluding issue being separated into its three component stories and tacked on as epilogues to those subplots. I really wish each issue in the arc would let you decide whether to keep reading straight through the book or jump to the issue that happens next in the chronology, but it doesn't look like the comiXology format allows that.

[ATDrake]

Finished The Song of the Gladiator by Paul Doherty, which is listed as 3rd in his Mysteries of Ancient Rome series, although technically this seems to be a loose grouping which lumps in unrelated standalones with novels starring a regular recurring sleuth. In this case, the sleuth is Claudia (in her 2nd novel, according to the blurbs), a servant and secret spy for Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, similar to the setup of Doherty's Alexander the Great mystery series, which I also picked a discount introductory novel for just 99 cents in Headline's sale (still ongoing!).

Also like the previous, there was a combined mystery of the puzzle of the removal of a sacred artifact, as well as a murder case with political implications for the legitimacy of the ruler (and a few other incidental deaths along the way). This close to reading the Alexander book, that gave a weird sense of déjà-vu, although the plots and motivations do play out differently. I guess it fits in with ancient Roman culture having a thing for Greek copies?

Anyway, like the previous, this was a well-enough done tale in a light casual style which nicely incorporated historical cultural bits and had decent solutions for the assorted mysteries, though personally I didn't find it as engaging* as the ancient Greek one, although I'm quite willing to pick up and look at more. Which is just as well, since I bought a slew of the author's other 99 cent books on sale.

* But then I'm not all that interested in heretical schisms in early Christianity, and there was also what seemed a kind of weird default worldview assumption that even though the sleuth character wasn't actually Christian, she knew more about and paid more attention to Christianity in daily life than whatever other religion she might have practiced (not mentioned, IIRC, except for not being Christianity) and that the surrounding culture was eventually headed for Christianization (which I guess is true in retrospect, but seemed oddly forward-looking coming from a period character living during a time of change) and the historical cultural bits tended to focus on that, too.

That may have been a side-effect of said heretical early Christianity schisms being a plot point in this particular case, but OTOH, I did also get that kind of quasi-proto-Christianity vibe from the A Murder in Thebes, which starred a Jewish Israelite character as the amateur spy/sleuth and did occasionally make noticeable mention of various things about her faith. So maybe it's just part of the author's style, since he does write mainly medieval mystery series and those tend to have a relatively high degree of cultural background religiosity in them where it isn't quite as noticeable in context.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And now I'm reading Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith. And so far it's looking very good.

And very good it was too. Most enjoyable.

Next up: Another recent purchase, Split Second by David Baldacci

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Halfway through Leviathan Wakes, and really liking it. If it's not absolutely hard SF, it's close enough for me, and adding the mystery and politics just makes it a better read.

Which author? I have two books on my Kindle with that title.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

Which author? I have two books on my Kindle with that title.

Fairly certain Bob is reading the one by James SA Corey.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

Which author? I have two books on my Kindle with that title.

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Fairly certain Bob is reading the one by James SA Corey.

Correct you are!

I did take a break from LW to read Amazing Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy, which I happened to finish right at the end of my errands this morning. Last night's prep work, consisting of mapping the chronology chart into a combined index and "cheat sheet," was a big help in letting me bounce between subplots* while keeping the chronology straight. There were a few insta-recap incidents, in which I saw the same scene from different viewpoints in quick succession, but you have to expect some of that.

Storywise, I like how it was handled and expect that the loose ends left dangling will get tugged in due course. That said, I'm thoroughly sick of both the Jackals and the Goblins as Spidey villains - in the same way that I'm tired of seeing the Joker pop up in so many Batman movies. I would be very happy if Marvel permakilled those villains beyond any hope of resurrection Real Soon Now. They're beyond stale, and having them enact the same old plot every time they show up is just tiresome. Yes, this time the authors did manage to add a couple of nice twists - which is why I think this is the right time to retire the characters. Let 'em go out on a high note. Spidey deserves better from the "House of Ideas."

* For anyone else who wants to try this, the only suggestions I'd make would be to read ASM 20 right after Clone Conspiracy 1 (not before it, as the chart may imply), treat Prowler 1-3 as a triple-length issue where Prowler 3 is placed, and to regard the Omega stories as epilogues that are already in the right places. Otherwise, just look at the handy chart provided early in the collection and go left to right, top to bottom, as best you can. The result never leaves any plot alone for too long; it works well. The alternative, reading the collection from front to back, results in reading each title straight through from beginning to end. Do that, and many of the surprise revelations will be spoiled as you loop through the common events four different times. I don't recommend that.

[drjd]

Originally Posted by drjd

Now I am planning to read Private Royals by James Patterson, a crime thriller.

Finished Private Royals by James Patterson, another crime thriller action packed with his well established characters, Jack Morgan and his team. All in all, a good page turner.

Next I read Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood. Isherwood magnificently captures 1931 Berlin: charming, with its avenues and cafés; marvelously grotesque, with its nightlife and dreamers; dangerous, with its vice and intrigue; powerful and seedy, with its mobs and millionaires — this was the period when Hitler was beginning his move to power.

Now I plan to read Night Has a Thousand Eyes by Cornell Woolrich.

[HarryT]

I'm currently reading "Explorers of the Nile", by Tim Jeal, which I was prompted to buy by hearing an abridged radio adaptation on BBC Radio about a year ago. The book tells the story of the attempts by European explorers in the mid 19th century to discover the source of the Nile; the "holy grail" of African exploration at the time. A fascinating story it is, too, with bitter rivalry and backstabbing between the explorers involved. The book makes this complex part of history very readable, and is very well-researched. It's a long book, so I'm reading it alongside other things.

One of the interesting things about a book like this is to read the original sources referred in the book. Virtually all of them are available as page-scanned PDFs at "archive.org", and many of them were extremely popular books in their own day, particularly Richard Burton's (somewhat exaggerated) accounts of his travels, and Henry Morton Stanley's book "How I Found Livingstone" (he of the famous "Dr Livingstone, I presume?" question). Stanley was a newspaper journalist who was sent to Africa by his proprietor to both search for Livingstone (who most people believed dead) and to write about it for his newspaper.

Excellent book. Highly recommended.

[JSWolf]

I've just finished Ceremony which is the 9th Spenser book. Quite a good read. I also have The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers onthe go. I may readThe Widening Gyre which is Spenser #10.

I'm thing of also diving into the world of Percy Jackson by Rick Riprdan one I find a chronological list.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Another recent purchase, Split Second by David Baldacci

Which also seems to have been a good buy. An interesting mystery, even though the villain wasn't convincing for me. I'm looking forward to the others in this series.

But first, Asimov's SF, May/June 2017 edited by Sheila Williams, which has just been published.

[Dngrsone]

Just finished So Not a Hero by S. J. Delos. It was okay, but like Rev. Bob said earlier, he could use an editor.

Going to read a little about Queen Victoria, I think, before returning to the Nameless Dwarf.

[DiapDealer]

I finally got around to finishing Aaronovitch's The Hanging Tree, the sixth in his Rivers of London series. Didn't really enjoy this one at all. There's always been a ton of acronyms and architecture lessons in these books but in this case, there was nothing else of any substance. Very disappointing. Especially considering the publication delays.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

But first, Asimov's SF, May/June 2017 edited by Sheila Williams, which has just been published.

And a good issue it was. I'll come back to this later to give reviews of each story.

Now on to: Shadow Magic by Patricia C. Wrede. From an omnibus purchased last year.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I finally got around to finishing Aaronovitch's The Hanging Tree, the sixth in his Rivers of London series. Didn't really enjoy this one at all. There's always been a ton of acronyms and architecture lessons in these books but in this case, there was nothing else of any substance. Very disappointing. Especially considering the publication delays.

It's on my list to buy, but I now feel less urgency.