[Aptorian]

I am a sucker for a catchy book title and colorful book covers. About 60% of my interest in books is based on judging books by the cover.

[Salt-Man Z]

My last two reads:

THE BEAUTIFUL ONES by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: This one turned out to be not much more than a cute little courtship drama. It sounds like I mean that in a bad way, but I don't! Hector is a performing psychokinetic who moves back to the city of Loisail to check up on his ex-fiancée Valerie (who married while he had gone off to make his fortune) and in order to get close to her again, decides to start courting Valerie's younger cousin Nina, who (developing her own psychokinetic abilities) takes a keen interest in Hector. What could possibly go wrong? I absolutely loved it.

WYLDING HALL by Elizabeth Hand: This one takes the form of an oral history, where the remaining members of the briefly-popular English folk band Windhollow Faire tell the story of the summer their producer took them to stay at a mysterious abandoned manor house in the countryside, and what befell them there. A relatively short read, I polished this one off over the weekend. Very hard to put down, and also quite creepy in places!

[Tsundoku]

41% into KJ Parker's A Practical Guide to Conquering the World and there's a brief note about what happened just after the end of book 2 - How to Rule and Empire and get away with it. Oh dear.

KJ Parker doesn't really do happy endings, or even bittersweet does he? I do enjoy everything up to that point though.

I've noticed plenty of references to other works of his, in particular the Fencer trilogy. The part where he describes how to build a composite recurve bow brings back ... unsettling memories.

[Macros]

Reminds me I have belly of the bow on my trp

[End of Disc One]

Macros, on 27 January 2022 - 02:39 PM, said:

Reminds me I have belly of the bow on my trp

Great book and one that is likely to stay with you

[QuickTidal]

Since The EXPANSE has now ended with the final book releasing, I've decided to dive back in and finish it, but I'm way back at CIBOLA BURN....hehe

But yeah, about 100 pages into it and enjoying. It will be nice to sort of binge this to the end.

Spoiler

Is it too much to hope for that Ghost Miller hangs around for the whole series? I realize that's wildly unrealistic...but he's so fun.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 28 January 2022 - 01:51 PM, said:

Since The EXPANSE has now ended with the final book releasing, I've decided to dive back in and finish it, but I'm way back at CIBOLA BURN....hehe

But yeah, about 100 pages into it and enjoying. It will be nice to sort of binge this to the end.

Spoiler

Is it too much to hope for that Ghost Miller hangs around for the whole series? I realize that's wildly unrealistic...but he's so fun.

Since you asked....

Spoiler

Yes but he's transferred to Avasarala and the two of them just appear in little vignettes sitting around for the rest of the series cursing and drinking whiskey and also i'm lying.

[Aptorian]

About a 150 pages into Quantum of Nightmares, the second New Management book by Charles Stross.

I'm having a hard time getting into this one. It's not bad but it lacks focus, it's doing about 3-4 storylines at once, with different POVs in each one overlapping, with no clear end point so far. 150 p in I'm beginning to see how some parts connect but it's really scattered.

Sure is dreary though. I want a second spin off series called Yes, Mandate about a civil servant working for the Black Pharaoh where Stross just does comedy surrounding the eldritch evil's plans being foiled by British bureaucracy. Or should that be aided by...

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 30 January 2022 - 05:45 PM

[Abyss]

Aptorian, on 30 January 2022 - 05:42 PM, said:

About a 150 pages into Quantum of Nightmares, the second New Management book by Charles Stross.

I'm having a hard time getting into this one. It's not bad but it lacks focus, it's doing about 3-4 storylines at once, with different POVs in each one overlapping, with no clear end point so far. 150 p in I'm beginning to see how some parts connect but it's really scattered.

Sure is dreary though. I want a second spin off series called Yes, Mandate about a civil servant working for the Black Pharaoh where Stross just does comedy surrounding the eldritch evil's plans being foiled by British bureaucracy. Or should that be aided by...

Just Finished this.
Keep going, the payoff is great. I enjoyed this more than many of the LAUNDRY FILES books.

[worry]

Wayfarers Book 2: Wasn't expecting such a departure from the first book, and though I missed those characters, this book was essentially on par while it did its own thing. I really loved the themes explored in this book, really welcome stuff to read at this particular time.

[Aptorian]

Abyss, on 31 January 2022 - 06:57 PM, said:

Aptorian, on 30 January 2022 - 05:42 PM, said:

About a 150 pages into Quantum of Nightmares, the second New Management book by Charles Stross.

I'm having a hard time getting into this one. It's not bad but it lacks focus, it's doing about 3-4 storylines at once, with different POVs in each one overlapping, with no clear end point so far. 150 p in I'm beginning to see how some parts connect but it's really scattered.

Sure is dreary though. I want a second spin off series called Yes, Mandate about a civil servant working for the Black Pharaoh where Stross just does comedy surrounding the eldritch evil's plans being foiled by British bureaucracy. Or should that be aided by...

Just Finished this.
Keep going, the payoff is great. I enjoyed this more than many of the LAUNDRY FILES books.

Finished the book. Still not that hot about the story. Still think the book lacks focus. But I never knew where the hell the story was going, I'll give it that. Really weird world building.

I'm ready to get back to the story of the Laundry and Bob now.

[Abyss]

Aptorian, on 01 February 2022 - 04:25 PM, said:

Abyss, on 31 January 2022 - 06:57 PM, said:

Aptorian, on 30 January 2022 - 05:42 PM, said:

About a 150 pages into Quantum of Nightmares, the second New Management book by Charles Stross.

I'm having a hard time getting into this one. It's not bad but it lacks focus, it's doing about 3-4 storylines at once, with different POVs in each one overlapping, with no clear end point so far. 150 p in I'm beginning to see how some parts connect but it's really scattered.

Sure is dreary though. I want a second spin off series called Yes, Mandate about a civil servant working for the Black Pharaoh where Stross just does comedy surrounding the eldritch evil's plans being foiled by British bureaucracy. Or should that be aided by...

Just Finished this.
Keep going, the payoff is great. I enjoyed this more than many of the LAUNDRY FILES books.

Finished the book. Still not that hot about the story. Still think the book lacks focus. But I never knew where the hell the story was going, I'll give it that. Really weird world building.

I'm ready to get back to the story of the Laundry and Bob now.

I liked how the disparate storylines all came together. I also really enjoyed this cast, who were a far more diverse and entertaining bunch than the usual LAUNDRY crew.

That said, i do look forward to the next Bob book, which happens to be a novella out March, ESCAPE FROM YOKAI LAND, that has him working w the Japanese version of the Laundry.

[Salt-Man Z]

Finished Gemma Files' EXPERIMENTAL FILM the other night. Fantastic book about a former Canadian film teacher/critic who stumbles upon evidence of Canada's first female filmmaker, and gets caught up in a creepy eldritch nightmare. Starts a little slow, but I think that helps ground the characters and setting for when things really start to go off the rails later. Very spooky, and I confess to being a little wary about reading it late at night in the dark.

[Abyss]

Just finished BLOOD HEIR by Ilona 'i'm really two people who used to be spies but would rather LARP' Andrews.
The authors were writing this and posting in stages through the early 2020 pandemic. I was following initially then decided i would rather wait til it was done. Glad it did, it was good fun.

BLOOD HEIR is a return to the KATE DANIELS series world. The protagonist is Kate's adopted daughter Julie, who we last saw riding off into the sunset with Kate's resurrected uber-mage-warrior aunt. Eight years later Julie is back in Atlanta and A LOT has changed. She has a murder to solve, a god hunting her, a cover to maintain, city-state, Knight Protector, and Pack politics to navigate, and that's more or less just the first chapter.

This was a pretty great return to this series. Power/confidence wise, Julie is around where Kate was mid-series, more mature in someways, very much younger in others. It works nicely because the setting and characters are familiar but the protag, while similar, is not Kate 2.0. Same goes for the book in general.

I won't spoil who, but a bunch of supporting cast are back, all have evolved to some degree since the last Kate book. There are also new additions, one in particular who is very funny and another who is absolutely glorious.

If you were on the Kateamine bandwagon when that series was getting our attention a few years ago, this is worth your time and money. It doesn't reinvent the genre or turn the world on its side, but it has the same energy and pace that made the MAGIC series worthwhile. Also, predatory unicorn.

[amphibian]

I was pretty disappointed in the finale of the Kate series. It seemed like the authors ran out of steam so totally that the book fell flat.

Which vibe is the Julie book giving? More of the finale or more of the middle series where the authors weren't doing 12 side project novellas a year?

[Abyss]

amphibian, on 04 February 2022 - 06:30 PM, said:

I was pretty disappointed in the finale of the Kate series. It seemed like the authors ran out of steam so totally that the book fell flat.

Which vibe is the Julie book giving? More of the finale or more of the middle series where the authors weren't doing 12 side project novellas a year?

Middle of the series, good momentum, feeling good w the characters, seem to have a plan.
I think you'll enjoy it, it has a similar vibe to the middle books when Kate would have to solve a case vs later books where the war against the Big Bad was the focus.

[Abyss]

Just Finished Ben Aaronovich's latest Peter Grant book TALES FROM THE FOLLY.


It's a collection of short stories most of which only previously appeared in hardcover special editions, so all of it was new to me except for RARE BOOK OF CUNNING DEVICE which i had not earbook'd before in any event.

The first half are Peter stories, all variations of short cases he worked on in between the books. They're set at various points in the series which is fun because we get little flashback moments like Leslie working with him on a case or when he was still early days w Bev. The second half are supporting cast stories and also fun - there's an Abigail story that is too endearing for words. Finally at the end are a bunch of short 'slice of life' bits including a great one from Nightingale's pov.

Absolutely worthwhile if you're a fan of the series. All the narrators are great if you go earbook.

[Salt-Man Z]

Finished off Sarah Gailey's THE ECHO WIFE last night. About a scientist who discovers her husband is having an affair... with her clone. An intriguing premise, but I was not at all expecting what actually happened. Fantastic book.

[QuickTidal]

So many years after reading only MAGICIAN: APPRENTICE of Feist's Riftwar (and enjoying it), I'm finally diving properly into MAGICIAN: MASTER and continuing the journey. I did try this book a year or two ago and wasn't able to get into it (the POV switch from Midkemia to Kelewan was too jarring at the time), but now I'm singing along and enjoying.

[Abyss]

Just Finished Myke Cole's SIXTEENTH WATCH.
This is a scifi book about a US Coast Guard team in a future where the Moon is settled and various nations are competing for space and resources. Naturally the US is there, and naturally its armed services, specifically the Navy and Coast Guard, are competing for jurisdiction and also PR because inter-service training competitions have become bigger than sports... yeah i know, i know, just go with it, it's central to the story. Also there's a Lunar Cold War that edges on hot.
I've read Cole before, i enjoyed his LEGION v PHALANX semi-fictional analysis, i started but did not lov enough to continue his SHADOW OPS series... in terms of characters and character dev, this may be his best work yet. The pacing is solid, even quiet moments have a fwd momentum to them, and his action scenes are amazing and visceral and surprisingly 'clean' considering they involve people shooting and beating each other in space vacuum. The protag, Capt Jane Oliver, is very well written as a determined career military woman. The story is from her POV and she is by no means invulnerable or a complete hardcase like some milsf leads. She's damaged and driven and brave and scared spitless and completely engaging. The cast around around her, her daughter, her team, her XO and chain of command, officers/competitors from other branches, are VERY well done, even some with brief roles in the story.
The earbook narrator is flawless.

I have one minor complaint, major spoiler do not read if you haven't read the book....

Spoiler

I cannot understand why Alice's status is left unresolved at the end of the book. Cole's point, i guess, is that Jane Oliver is strong enough now to weather even that loss. ...but we don't know that because there's no resolution.
Oliver believes she'll find Alice and her team and the entire coast guard are on it and end fade to black buh-bye. It's not that Alice is a cetral character, she's there to motivate Oliver, but to leave her as Shroedinger's Daughter at the end of the book annoyed me.
It's a minor point in an otherwise strong book that resolves all it's other plotlines.

.

Great book, worth the time and money.