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

[DrNefario]

Originally Posted by Geralt

Few days ago I finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin, from my fantasy challenge, and that was so bad, I wouldn't recommend her to anybody. Awful writing style, very little of world-building, almost no character development. I didn't care for any except one minor character, all other were flat as a wall. Will not be finishing this trilogy. No thx.

I really enjoyed this one, when I read it for the Hugos two years ago. I can't remember if I gave it my top vote or my second vote, but it was in my top two of the five nominees. I found it unusual and imaginative. I guess we look for different things in a book.

I have a few books to update, myself:

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie. A fairly preposterous thriller, probably not one of Christie's best works, but still quite good fun.

The Bohr Maker by Linda Nagata. Imaginative nanotechnology SF which I really liked. I'll definitely be pursuing the rest of the series. (It does stand alone. I think the next one is set a long time later.)

My Booky Wook by Russell Brand. Very funny autobiographical tale of self-destruction and heroin abuse. I'm not especially a fan, I just picked this up cheaply on a whim, but I enjoyed it.

Gallow: The Crimson Shield by Nathan Hawke. The first in a brand new action fantasy series, which I happened to win in a competition. I didn't necessarily mean to read it straight away, but it was very easy to get into. Kind of reminded me of David Gemmell and Bernard Cornwell. Good fun.

Only the Linda Nagata was an ebook. The rest were paper, and gain me back some shelf space (although I'm keeping the Nathan Hawke. It has a nice cover.)

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Reading Sarah Hoyt's A Few Good Men. A sequel to Darkship Thieves and Darkship Renegades. Sadly, this series which started so very promisingly with Darkship Thieves has gone downhill since and this one is not encouraging for the rest that are to follow. I may finish it, but I can't recommend it, and won't be buying later ones.

That's a shame. I have all three queued up due to purchasing the Baen monthly bundles. I wasn't aware that there were any more in the series.

On September 1, I finished two books which I had been reading for most of August. First finished was a Kindle book, Flesh of the God, the 7th in Lauren Haney's mystery series set in ancient Egypt. There's only one more book in the series. Then, I finished reading A Killer Read, a cozy mystery by Erika Chase. According to Goodreads, I'm still 2 books behind schedule to meet my goal of 150 for the year.

[Dazrin]

I used my lunch break to read The Man Who Bridged the Mist by Kij Johnson. It is a Nebula and Hugo Award winning novella (although my word count puts it into the "novelette" range). It was an interesting story, although I am not sure I like the ending. Maybe that is the engineer in me speaking out. I would love to see a longer version of this story or something else that explains some of the mysteries in their world.

[LovesMacs]

I have been reading Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin but at 20% in, my attention is lagging. At this point in the book, the main character is hearing the life story of a man he saved from a shipwreck, who himself is quoting a letter handed to him in secret from within the convent where they were staying. The letter recounts various conversations and actions of the past.

This layering of narrative seems to be typical for this particular book.

The book seemed intriguing enough at first but now it feels unrelentingly negative. Negativity is part and parcel of gothic fiction but I am beginning to feel I want some more variation, more shades of grey.


No, not those shades of grey!

I'll look around in my TBR pile and see if anything piques my interest. Reading suggestions are also always welcome.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

That's a shame. I have all three queued up due to purchasing the Baen monthly bundles. I wasn't aware that there were any more in the series.

More are supposedly coming, though these three are all that there are right now. Personally, I'd read the first one, Darkship Thieves, for sure. And then I'd suggest maybe reading the second one. But stop there. I was very disappointed in where the whole thing went.

Meanwhile, I finished reading the first Anne McCaffrey Dragon bookDragonflight, and rolled right on to them second one, Dragonquest. It's interesting to read these now, many years later, and knowing what an impact these had on a whole generation of writers and readers.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next up: Midst Toil and Tribulation by David Weber. The latest in his Safehold series, now at a sensible price as the paperback has come out.

And what a long book it is! But I'm enjoying it more than the previous one in the series. I not sure if that's because I'm in a better mood, or because there's a bit more action in this one.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And what a long book it is! But I'm enjoying it more than the previous one in the series. I not sure if that's because I'm in a better mood, or because there's a bit more action in this one.

It's the action.
Like a Mighty Army is due out in February.
Apache

[Apache]

I have just started Under a Graveyard Sky by John Ringo and it is one I do not want to put down. I do not usually read Zombie books per se, but I do like most of John Ringo's works. I think the last Zombie book I read was I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.
This is well worth getting even if you are not a Zombie Fan.
Apache

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Apache

I have just started Under a Graveyard Sky by John Ringo and it is one I do not want to put down. I do not usually read Zombie books per se, but I do like most of John Ringo's works.

Has he dropped the ultra-right-wing political rhetoric? I used to like Ringo, but the last couple of books of his that I read were more like extremist political manifestos than SF, which really put me off him.

[mewmartigan]

Just finished "We Few" to finish off the Empire of Man series.

Now I am switching gears and will start "Reamde" by Neal Stephenson.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Has he dropped the ultra-right-wing political rhetoric? I used to like Ringo, but the last couple of books of his that I read were more like extremist political manifestos than SF, which really put me off him.

I have just started the book, but so far there isn't any overt Right Wing Politics.
Apache

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Apache

I have just started the book, but so far there isn't any overt Right Wing Politics.
Apache

Good to hear. The last book of his I tried was "The Last Centurion", in which I found the political rhetoric so grossly unpleasant that I abandoned it a third of the way through, and that's something I very rarely do.

I have absolutely no problem with any author holding whatever political views they wish; what I object to is when they use their fiction to try to evangelise those views, and that's what Mr Ringo did in several of his recent works.

[Grace Elliot]

Originally Posted by Apache

I have just started Under a Graveyard Sky by John Ringo and it is one I do not want to put down. I do not usually read Zombie books per se, but I do like most of John Ringo's works. I think the last Zombie book I read was I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.
This is well worth getting even if you are not a Zombie Fan.
Apache

A new author to me but I like the sound of a book I can't put down.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Grace Elliot

A new author to me but I like the sound of a book I can't put down.

You're not an SF fan, I take it? John Ringo is an extremely well-known SF author, best known for writing military SF.

[Mivo]

I finished The Day of the Jackal, which was a remarkable book, though the end was not as climactic as the build-up deserved. But that is genre-specific, I guess. Staying with the genre, but changed the author for the next novel: Jackdaws by Ken Follett.